Posted on 05/22/2015 1:29:00 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
WASHINGTON — THE fall of the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday, and of the Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday, is a big gain for the Islamic State, but not an utter disaster, as many observers fear.
Rather than inducing panic in Western capitals, it should lead to a realistic assessment of the Islamic State’s strengths and weaknesses. One setback in a long war must not trigger hasty strategic shifts that lead to foreign countries’ becoming mired in Iraq once more.
Palmyra has economic and cultural significance, as it sits among gas fields and is home to renowned ruins. But Ramadi, in western Iraq, is of far greater military and strategic consequence.
The attack on Ramadi was a sign of desperation, not strength. It took 16 months of continual clashes with tenacious Iraqi security forces and loyal Sunni tribes before the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, could take Ramadi. Before it fell, the Islamic State already controlled half of the city. Its battlefield rivals were exhausted, and it wanted to give its adherents a psychological boost. Ramadi was a ripe target.
But the Islamic State is not on an unstoppable march. In Iraq, and to some extent Syria, it remains on the defensive. In April, the Islamic State’s defenses in large swaths of Salahuddin Province and the provincial capital, Tikrit, collapsed. In the north, Iraqi Kurds have contained the Islamic State. In Syria, Kurds supported by Iraqi pesh merga forces and by American airstrikes decisively defeated the group in the town of Kobani. Unlike the disastrous fall of Mosul in June 2014, the conquest of Ramadi hasn’t led to a collapse of Iraqi military units.
There is even a silver lining in the fall of Ramadi.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
NYT’s......it must be true. Not to worry all is well.
A sure sign that ISIS *IS* winning.
Cue Baghdad Bob pic..
Its the last of the ninth and we have “Casey at the Bat”.
Phew!!
Boy am I glad to read this. I was getting kind of worried there for a bit.
`Who you gonna believe? Us or your lyin’ eyes.’ The Old Gray Whore
They announced today that they're going to purchase a nuclear weapon from Pakistan. Even allowing for the fact that nobody talks smack like these bearded a-holes, I think that might take the shine off 0bama's victory dance if it turns up going off over Tel Aviv or New York.
Isis launched a major attack on Haditha today, the last major city west of Baghdad still not in ISIS hands.
Two French brothers died in a suicide bombing of the government barracks there.
Attack has been beaten off, but ISIS has occupied an industrial area just west of the city.
But yeah.. we’re winning, or sumpin’.
Nah...we’re just in the “let’s get them overconfident” stage.
Tell that to the hundreds, maybe thousands of non-crazy non-Muslims who have been beheaded. Just can’t tell nowadays. It depends on how whatever particular cognizant newsqueer has for marching orders from Obama.
This is exactly the kind of dissembling, diversion and disorder issued forth by our Tyrant and his complicit media.
Soon, we’ll see that night when a couple hundred cantankerous legislators will be murdered in the night, then perhaps a burning at the Capitol, or in the associate office buildings. What kind of new Reich will we get?
Do you imagine these fools at NYT are going to play a part in education of the masses once they’ve done their deed?
You can always find someone to write your point of view. I’m sure this writer has extensive training and experience in military matters.
So when have we decided that each nation should defend itself without any ally troops on the ground?
At the same time, this administration punishes Israel and imports large numbers of Muslims into Detroit.
Well, this should be entertaining.
Actually, they ARE winning. With Imam Baraq’s assistance.
Well, at least Palmyra used to be near renowned ruins. Who knows what’s going on there now?
Ahmed Ali is co-founder of the All-India Progressive Writers’ Movement.
The guy is a poet and short story writer by trade. He has a nice example of his fiction here.
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