Yep, Syria War 1.0 is going great guns: almost 800 air strikes in the U.S. campaign to destroy the Islamic State so far -- and those strikes have certainly helped destroy necessary infrastructure for any future Syrian entity that might emerge from this mess -- and the IS has, reports the Daily Beast, only gained ground and control of ever more Syrians as well. Its the usual sorry tale of American-style war. Tom ISIS continues to gain substantial ground in Syria, despite nearly 800 airstrikes in the American-led campaign to break its grip there. At least one-third of the country’s territory is now under ISIS influence, with recent gains in rural areas that can serve as a conduit to major cities that the so-called Islamic State hopes to eventually claim as part of its caliphate. Meanwhile, the Islamic extremist group does not appear to have suffered any major ground losses since the strikes began. The result is a net ground gain for ISIS, according to information compiled by two groups with on-the-ground sources. In Syria, ISIS “has not any lost any key terrain,” Jennifer Cafarella, a fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War who studies the Syrian conflict, explained to The Daily Beast. Even U.S. military officials privately conceded to The Daily Beast that ISIS has gained ground in some areas, even as the Pentagon claims its seized territory elsewhere, largely around the northern city of Kobani. That’s been the focus of the U.S.-led campaign, and ISIS has not been able to take the town, despite its best efforts.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 21:03:21 +0000