Report: ISIS getting obliterated, already pushed out of all of Iraq

Report: ISIS getting obliterated, already pushed out of all of Iraq
December 10, 2017
https://www.conservativeinstitute.org/islam/islamic-terrorism/isis-pushed-out-iraq.htm?utm_source=aimtell&utm_campaign=automated_push&utm_medium=push
Gage Skidmore / CCL
When President Donald Trump took office less than a year ago, the Islamic State’s so-called Caliphate in Iraq comprised 23,300 square miles stretching from Ramadi in the west to Mosul in the north. But the new commander-in-chief quickly scrapped the strict rules of engagement put in place by the Barack Obama administration, empowering military leaders and completely transforming for map of Iraq.

As a result of this improved strategy, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi announced on Saturday that ISIS has just surrendered its last inch of territory in Iraq, bringing an end to the brutal jihadist state that terrorized Iraq for far too long.

This marks a huge victory for the Trump administration and their foreign policy.

Historic Victory
Addressing the Iraqi people in a televised speech, Al-Abadi honored the sacrifices and called the ISIS defeat a victory for everyone.

He said:

Today, our troops were able to purge islands of Nineveh and Anbar in full, and they are now fully controlling the Iraqi-Syrian borders. These victories are not only for the Iraqis alone, though the Iraqis were themselves who achieved such victories with their sacrifices. But the victories are for all Arabs, Muslims and the world alike.

“Honorable Iraqis, your land has been completely liberated,” Al-Abadi continued. “The flag of Iraq is flying high today over all Iraqi territory and at the farthest point on the border.”

Watch Al-Abadi’s full speech here:

Iraq, a fledgling democracy, has come a long way since 2014, when ISIS controlled a third of all territory in Iraq after U.S. President Barack Obama dismissed them as a “junior varsity” terrorist team. The Islamist military machine rolled through surrendering Iraqi units, in the process capturing territory, tanks, and oil wells to fund future terrorist operations around the world.

As Obama came to terms with his foreign policy blunder, he reversed course and swore to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS. However, he failed to absorb the greatest lesson from the Vietnam War by micromanaging the conflict and allowing civilians far away from Baghdad to make day-to-day decisions.

The result? Three years of fighting with few major coalition victories. The battle to retake Ramadi, for instance, took so long that then-Secretary of Defense Ash Carter complained about the pace of operations and even called into question his Iraqi allies’ “will…to fight.”

Change of Strategy
The mood began to change in Iraq simply from the prospect of a Republican president committed to defeating ISIS. Iraqi ground commanders like Gen. Sarhad Qader Mohammad argued that Hillary Clinton would bring a “softer approach” to the fight, while Trump “wouldn’t put up with [ISIS].” In Iraqi Kurdistan, some Kurdish fighters even named their newborn sons after Trump.

To the relief of ordinary Iraqis, Trump took the White House, and it was not long before he revitalized the U.S. military and put his faith into military leaders to work independently from Washington.

Without their hands tied, generals were able to execute targeted airstrikes that soon sent ISIS forces reeling.

Even in Syria, a country where Obama was reluctant to become involved, ISIS has experienced crippling losses, including losing their strategic headquarters in Raqqa two months ago. U.S. surgical airstrikes were instrumental to breaking the months-long siege and forcing ISIS to capitulate.

ISIS 3.0
While Al-Abadi celebrates the hard-won victory of his people, analysts are warning that ISIS is not completely defeated — just transformed. In an exclusive interview with Conservative Institute, retired general and former Central Intelligence Agency director David Petraeus warned about the “rise of ISIS 3.0.”

According to Petraeus, ISIS is expected to rebrand themselves into a guerilla fighting force, slipping into the civilian populace and waging the type of terrorist insurgency that troubled U.S. military forces for so long after the removal of Saddam Hussein. Petraeus also argued that the future of Iraq depends upon the political strategy of Baghdad.

The former head of coalition forces in Iraq said that the battles which lie ahead are even more crucial because “inclusive political governance and security arrangements are essential if Iraq is to avoid the rise of ISIS 3.0 and ensure that fertile fields are not once again created for the planting of the seeds of extremism.”

Whatever challenges emerge for Iraq in the coming years, they can be certain that Trump will provide the assets needed to maintain a free and stable society. If the reign of ISIS proved anything, it is that the cost of failure in Iraq is much too high.