Obama’s Plan to Eliminate ISIS Is Working

[CajunBlazer]

Obama’s Plan to Eliminate ISIS Is Working

Donald Trump has made his promise to defeat ISIS quickly with decisive action one of the one of the centerpieces of his campaign. Never mind that that it turns out that his secret plan to eliminate the terrorist group is to give the generals thirty days to come up with his non-existent plan after he is elected. Never mind that the plan the generals are likely to promote is the same one President Obama is presently using which is to assist indigenous forces in eliminating the reason for ISIS’s existence, its claim of that it is restoring the Muslim caliphate. Why would the professional military leaders seek to continue to promote that plan? Because it is working.

ISIS has lost control over half of the territory it originally claimed to rebel Syrian, Kurdish and Iraqi forces supported by the allied bombing campaign and US Special Forces. ISIS has lost 5 of the 10 major cities it formally controlled and Mosul, the largest city in Northern Iraq, and the Syrian city of Raqqa, capital of the self proclaimed caliphate, are squarely in the sights of opposing forces. The ISIS dream of a caliphate encompassing not only all of the Middle East, but also all of Northern Africa and much of Central Asia is dying a well deserved premature death. It is becoming apparent to potential recruits that if ISIS can’t even maintain control of the territory that it already possesses, its plans for an all encompassing caliphate which is its very reason for existence was never attainable. Hence for many disenchanted Muslims around the world, the allure of ISIS is fast disappearing.

In addition, Turkish troops and Syrian rebels have driven ISIS from their former positions along the Syrian-Turkish border effectively cutting off the routes recruits used to travel from their home countries in Europe to ISIS controlled territory. The Turkish government has also become more vigilant and is actively seeking out and capturing potential ISIS recruits who are attempting to travel through their country on their way to wage jihad. They are deporting these people to their home countries where they face criminal charges.

Several recent articles, including a very comprehensive one written by Griff Witte and Sudarsan Raghavan for the Washington Post, highlight the dramatic reduction of ISIS recruits leaving their home countries to travel to Syria and Iraq to join the caliphate and fight the infidels. From the Witte/Rahavan article published September 9th:

The flow of foreign fighters to the ranks of the Islamic State — once a mighty current of thousands of radicalized men and women converging on Syrian and Iraqi battlefields from nations across the globe — has been cut to a trickle this year as the group’s territory has shrunk and its ambitions have withered.

Rest of article here:
Obama’s Plan to Eliminate ISIS Is Working

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Once the Bankers decide to

cut the money flow to this group,then and only then does this stop.

[CajunBlazer]

3. Let's not deal in conspiricy theories

The "bankers" don't fund ISIS - please read this Newsweek article written Nov 6, 2014 when ISIS was much more successful than it is today:

http://www.newsweek.com/2014/11/14/how-does-isis-fund-its-reign-terror-282607.html


The Islamic State’s staggering successes come at a cost. After all, it’s not cheap to wage war and manage territorial conquests whose population is now roughly the size of Austria’s.

So how can ISIS, cut off from the rest of the world by financial and trade sanctions, and under daily aerial and land bombardment by some of the richest countries in the world, afford to maintain a well-armed military and pay other bills?

Interviews with Iraqi, Kurdish, European, Syrian and American government officials, analysts and intelligence agents sketch a portrait of ISIS’s robust, sprawling, and efficient financial operation. The terrorist group relies on a relatively complex system to manage its far-reaching networks. Its currencies of choice—cash, crude oil and contraband—allow it to operate outside of legitimate banking channels. Turkey’s southern corridor, Iraq’s northwestern corridor and Syria’s northeastern corridor are key weak spots, well away from the prying eyes of outside investigators.

(snip)

[duncang]

4. One of the science channel shows

"What on earth" was showing some satellite pictures taking maybe a year or so apart of a ancient site. They were "leasing" out areas there to dig at and selling antiquities on the black market. That is probably part of the contraband.

[CajunBlazer]

6. It makes me furious everytime I see evidence of those bastards....

...destroying priceless historical relics and sites because those they believe that those things are not in line with their bastardized version of their religion.

This is conservationism at its worst. When you think about it you come to realize that deep down ISIS followers are not much different than ultra conservatives in our country and around the world. Think about what those people would do if they were totally in charge.

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Understand this groups leadership has

a Baathist tilt to it,meaning ex Iraq Military People . Some one is greasing the skids for these folks.

[CajunBlazer]

9. To my knowledge, that's correct

According to the sources I have read, when the Iraqi army's experienced leadership that was not accused of war crimes lost their jobs during de-baathification, some of those generals joined ISIS and are now the directing ISIS military operations for them. These are experienced military officers who are veterans of the war with Iran and other Iraqi military campaigns, including the two Gulf wars. In strategy, tactics and leadership, they proved to be vastly superior to political appointees who were running the Iraqi army when ISIS began its march across Iraq.

[CajunBlazer]

11. Here is one of the articles on the subject which I read earler

The hidden hand behind the Islamic State militants? Saddam Hussein’s

[underpants]

2. I said several years ago that ISIS was a waiting game

Could they govern? Early in the answer was yes
Could they maintain the fight? Apparently not.

[CajunBlazer]

5. I have to disagree with your answer to "can they govern?"

Since ISIS can apparently only govern by intimidation, slavery, and murder I would say that their ability to govern is extremely limited. Forcing others to strictly observe the extremely conservative practices of their bastardized religion against their will is not government, it it is the institution of a dictatorship.

And yes, apparently they are not very good at fighting either now that they can't constantly replenished their ranks with new cannon fodder and suicide bombers.

[CajunBlazer]

7. bottom line, they cqn't govern or fight very well

If Nuri al-Malik, W's hand chosen ruler of Iraqi leader, hadn't totally screwed up the Iraqi army with de-baathification and political appointments of the army's leadership, ISIS would likely have been stopped as soon as the crossed the Syria-Iraq border and would have never been able to establish a foothold in Iraq/

[Hortensis]

10. Exactly. The plummeting numbers of new recruits

is extremely telling. Experts are now trying to determine, though, what will come next. The factors that have lead to the rise of terrorism, of course, are not gone.

[CajunBlazer]

12. No, in fact it appears that ISIS is ratcheting up attacks in other countries

.... as their loses in Syria and Iraq continue to mount as a way to maintain relevance.

[Hortensis]

13. No, ISIS has been doing just that, but spreading out,

trying to be harder to nail down because holding the land it once conquered is untenable should not be mistaken for growth. ISIS is shrinking big time as its defeats mount up. At least that is what respectable foreign policy writers are reporting. Haven't checked myself.

[CajunBlazer]

14. ISIS hasn't been "spreading out"

What was happening is that previously unaffiliated group like Al-Shabaab in Eastern Africa and terrorist groups in the Sinai Peninsula (of Egypt), Libya and elsewhere pledged allegiance to ISIS when ISIS was doing well. Now that ISIS is getting their butt kicked in their so called caliphate, no one else seems be trying to get on board.

[Wounded Bear]

15. Trump's problem is simple...

There is no quick answer to terrorism. It takes social change as well as political change to reverse the trend towards terrorism as a desirable alternative. It takes long term investment in the local people and governments to change this.

History tells us that. It is why successful reversing of a terrorist uprising is a rare thing in history. Usually, the organized governmental side tires out first, allowing the rebels to win. It's basically what allowed us to win our revolution, along with French help. The voting public in democracies, like ours, are notoriously short sighted and impatient with things like this.

Defeating "radical Islamic terrorism" takes patience, like defeating any revolutionary force like that.

[CajunBlazer]

16. You're 100% right!

What you don't do is marginalize the community out of which terrorists most likely to emerge. When you try to turn the rest of the population again the Muslims, that gives the terror groups trying to recruit in that community more evidence to persuade already disenchanted young people to join up.

Instead you want recognize the community as completely worthwhile, establishing a trusting relationship with them, and work with them to identify individuals who are potential problems.

Trump is hell bent on doing the opposite in order to satisfy his basket full of undesirables.