Every time a admin official steps in front of a mike we are told that the war against the extremists of ISIS is going well with successes and few misfires…..so far my analysis shows that while the airstrikes are going well, but of course if you drop a bomb and it goes off that is a success, there has been little info coming out that would point to all this as a success.
That is why a story in Reuters the other day disturbs me………
(Reuters) – Islamic State has withdrawn some of its insurgents and equipment from areas northeast of the Syrian city of Aleppo, rebels and residents say, adding to signs of strain in the Syrian provinces of its self-declared caliphate.
The group, which has recently lost ground to Kurdish and Syrian government forces elsewhere in Syria, has pulled fighters and hardware from several villages in areas northeast of Aleppo, they said. But it has not fully withdrawn from area.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the war using a network of sources on the ground, said Islamic State had redeployed forces from Aleppo province to join battles further east with Kurdish forces and mainstream rebel groups.
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“There are tactical withdrawals. It’s not a complete withdrawal,” said the leader of a mainstream rebel group, citing contacts in Islamic State-held areas near Aleppo. Other groups had not moved to take the evacuated areas because Islamic State had not fully pulled out, he added.
But he said IS appeared to be preparing for a fuller pullback, saying they had even dismantled a bakery in the town of al-Bab, some 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Aleppo.
“They are still there, but they have pulled out the foreign fighters, the heavy equipment, changed their positions,” the rebel commander said in a phone interview, declining to be identified because it would endanger his contacts in the area.
I am still wondering why this was NOT bigger news in the US…..if confirmed then ISIS may be on the run in Syria or they could be planning a bigger operation and need more fighters……
But on the face of it……ISIS is on the run…..you would think PsyOps would be all over this situation…….why aren’t they?
If the admin wants public support then they will have to give the people some red meat……the longer this goes on the less support they will have…….
What would you do?