Good day and welcome to the briefing………

The battle for Kobane has re-ignited after several days of relative quiet……would appear that ISIS fell back re-evaluated and decided to try it again…….

Item 1–ISIS has made great strives in Anbar…….

While the focus of the US air war on ISIS seems to be Kobani, in northern Syria, ISIS has once again turned its sights to Iraq, with mounting gains in Anbar Province and a new offensive pushing them back into Kurdish territory in the nation’s northwest.

ISIS seized parts of Anbar way back in January, but has grown its territory across the area, and now controls 80 percent of the province, with the other 20 percent virtually constantly being contested.

Baghdad is still the prize and it appears that Kobane may be a way to divide and conquer the Coalition….

Item 2–There is a danger rising that I and others have warned the international community about for years…..Shi’a militias……….

One of the major Shi’ite militias on the rise in Iraq, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, has engaged in a major overnight gunbattle with police in the capital city of Baghdad after it was discovered they kidnapped the cousin of Deputy Premier Roz Nuri Shaways.

Police went to the warehouse and found what they thought was a small extortion gang, but it was quickly reinforced by the militia itself, with large numbers of fighters arriving and a battle quickly erupting. Four police were wounded in clashes, and they had to smash an armored personnel carrier through a militia roadblock for reinforcements.

ISIS in the West………Militias in the South…Baghdad is looking very vunerable from this angle…..

Item 3–US and Iraq are planning what some would call a major offensive against ISIS……

The United States and Iraq are drawing up a campaign plan for offensive operations by Iraqi ground forces to gradually reclaim towns and cities that have been occupied by the Islamic State, according to a senior administration official.

The plan, described as methodical and time-consuming, will not begin in earnest for several months and is designed to ensure that Iraqi forces­ do not overextend themselves before they are capable of taking and holding territory controlled by the militants.

Without experienced and well trained troops will it be successful?

Item 4–A little publicized battle in Syria illustrates just what the future of an uprising against ISIS would look like……

The little-publicized story of this failed tribal revolt in Abu Hamam, in Syria’s eastern Deir al-Zour province, illuminates the challenges that will confront efforts to persuade those living under Islamic State rule — in Iraq as well as Syria — to join the fight against the jihadist group, something U.S. officials say is essential if the campaign against the militants is to succeed.

The Abu Hamam area has now been abandoned, and many of the bodies remain uncollected, offering a chilling reminder to residents elsewhere of the fate that awaits those who dare rebel.

This event needs to be studied and studied hard if there is ever going to be a success in this situation.

Item 5–Monday the big story was that ISIS was practicing on 3 jets that it had captured…..and now a report is coming out of Syria……..

President Assad’s air force has brought down two fighter jets captured and operated by Isis (Islamic State) in Syria’s northern Aleppo province, leaving the jihadists with just one Soviet-era planes.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported earlier this week that Isis had flown the three jets over Aleppo, citing local witnesses. “They have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for [former Iraqi president] Saddam Hussein,” the group said.

The jets appeared to be MiG 21 or MiG23 models captured from al-Jarrah Syrian military air base.

This report has not been confirmed……..watch this spot!

That concludes today’s briefing…..I hope you find it informative.

Thanx for your time and attention.

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