International, Justice, Military, Religion

Kurds: Islamic State Defeat To Be Announced “In A Few Days” But Is ISIS Truly Vanquished?

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

If there was ever a “nation” in the ordinary meaning comprising the Islamic State it is unquestionably moribund. The area reportedly controlled by the terrorist organization remains for the time down to one square kilometer, according to some reports less than six hundred meters square in Baghuz.

What actually has so far saved the jihadists from annihilation was that they interspersed themselves among civilian human-shields while Kurdish forces and allies exercise pause to protect the innocent. Thus remains the glory of the Caliphate, hiding among women and children to save itself.

Kurdish Commanding General Chiya Firat announced, “In a very short time, not longer than a few days, we will officially announce the end of IS’s existence.”

Since the onslaught of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) incursion to route the last remaining contiguous jihadist forces in Northern and Eastern Syria beginning February tenth, the Kurds discovered unexpected levels of civilians held by ISIS in the remaining occupied villages. Earlier last week escaping jihadists attempted to instill themselves among fleeing civilians, some going so far as to dress as women. Others tried a more open approach attempting to flee in open land only to be picked off one by one by US and Syrian Arab Army forces. Some did manage to escape and reconstituted themselves to perform IED attacks in a few towns in greater Syria.

Kurdish and US forces discovered ISIS excavated numerous tunnels to move its fighters but recently these tunnels serve a shelters and another means to hold civilians as hostages. A common and credible claim made by civilians who did manage somehow to escape was that jihadists have resorted to murdering civilians to frighten them into remaining as human-shields.

Clearly, the Caliphate verges on defeat but the great tragedy will be difficult for most to accept. We’re going to witness a massacre of many civilians of all kinds at the hands of the ultimate jihadists. A few ISIS fighters will come to some form of self-preservation and surrender but what will become of them?

The Kurds have openly complained for months, much more so since President Trump announced an abrupt withdrawal from Syria, that Western nations have stalled at repatriating their jihadist citizens captured by the SDF and YPG/YPJ. Many hundreds of unlawful combatant Europeans remain in prison. Their governments do not want them but just as equally seem to not know what to do after repatriation. The probability remains high that a great number will return to jihadist tendencies and thinking and with dozens of reported ISIS sleeper cells in several other nations the legacy of the soon-to-be-former Caliphate will remain a thorn in humanity.

I frankly do not see the Syrian population, especially in the Kurdish areas, having any nostalgia or sympathy for the jihadist cause in lands suffering the terroristic reign of ISIS.  The terrorists brutalized the populous to such a horrific degree there will be no return to that form of “government”. There were several reports of Syrians converting to Christianity when these individuals experienced the ISIS form of Islam.

The fact that the Caliphate is moribund gives humanity something to celebrate. We continue to owe the Kurds a debt of gratitude for their instrumentality and defeating this evil. They certainly paid the highest price.

By Darren Smith

The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.

37 thoughts on “Kurds: Islamic State Defeat To Be Announced “In A Few Days” But Is ISIS Truly Vanquished?”

  1. Somehow there will always be a terrorist organization to fight. I’m sure ther are more cockroaches somewhere to come out from under rocks to attack the civilized world.

  2. DARREN IS RIGHT: WE OWE THE KURDS A DEBT OF GRATITUDE

    BUT TRUMP SEEMS BENT ON LEAVING THEM IN A LURCH

    Trump’s surprise announcement that the U.S. is pulling out of Syria is still creating confusion about the future of our Kurdish allies. Turkey, Russia and the Syrian regime are all eager to see the U.S. leave. Turkey, in particular, wants the U.S. gone so they can attack Kurdish positions in Syria.

    In an effort to reassure our allies, Trump said he would keep U.S. troops in western Iraq presumably to keep an eye on Syria. Yet Trump muddied the message by saying the U.S. also wants to monitor Iran from Iraq. That statement went over badly in Iraq whose Shia majority looks to Shia Iran as something of a patron. They do ‘not’ want Trump using bases in Iraq to provoke trouble with Iran.

    Two years into his presidency, Trump is still prone to statements no experienced statesman would make.

  3. Trump will resign “in a few days” which is March 4th. Pence will take over on the 5th.

  5. “The area reportedly controlled by the terrorist organization remains for the time down to one square kilometer,“

    Alas they have moved to this blog and they are multiplying in number: L4D is Anonymous, Peter Hill is Peter H., Natacha is Anonymous, and so forth, and though they say they are liberal, they refuse to use birth control hence their multiplier effect. 👯‍♂️

    Save the blog from the Turds!, um, Kurds!

    😜

    1. Estovir, your comments on this log are so shockingly stupid one has to wonder ‘who’ you represent.

      If I was a Republican commenter here, I would want Estovir to disappear for good. You consistently come across as the worst of Trump-supporting stereotypes. Which makes me seriously wonder if you’re a foreign troll.

      1. “If I was a Republican commenter”

        If I WERE……FTFY

        “..if you’re a foreign troll.”

        I just corrected your English grammar bruh

  7. The posted blog – the official conspiracy theory – pretends that “ISIS” is the most successful randomly organized group in the history of the world — where they get no national revenue to support themselves, to purchase weapons, and to grow their organization. It pretends they are just a rag-tag group of volunteers who all just happen to enjoy brutal violence. No US or Saudi training, protection, money and weapons at all.

  9. When you go from controlling thousands of square miles and hundreds of thousands of people to controlling 1.5 square miles and a few hundred people you’re not ISIS anymore, you’re Walt Disney World and your movement is quite Mickey Mouse. Worse yet, you’ve got the Four Tops ridiculing you! It’s a fate worse than death and “I ain’t lying”:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=faaxsHyyIzY

  10. The real answer is to carve out an independent and sovereign Kurdistan and have all the Kurds come home. We did it once with Israel, so why not the Kurds?

        1. We need a second Special Counsel to investigate Vatican meddling in U.S. politics.😉

          1. But Tom, the Catholic church is a pillar of the Anti-Abortion movement. Sure you want to investigate them?

            1. Francis and his lickspittles like Cdl. Cupich despise anti-abortion protesters.

              1. Tabby, see if you can back that up with articles from recognizable sources. I have seen NOTHING to indicate Pope Francis has abandoned the anti-abortion movement.

            2. There were also anti-war Catholic priests and nuns during the Vietnam era.
              And the Catholic Church, along with some other religions, was pro-civil rights.
              I don’t think the pope of that era spoke directly on those issues; I’d have to dig back into the Pius VI’s? era to see if he might have commented, but as I remember it was American Catholic clergy activity and statements in the anti-war and civil rights issues, without Vatican “meddling”.
              Pope John Paul was an anti-Communist, and of course an advocate for Polish autonomy.
              The current pope, Francis, is not only the Vatican head of state, but remains a citizen of Argentina as well.
              An “agent” of two countries.😧
              And his statements on immigration, etc.are well-known.
              We’ll see if he’s one of the people who retroactively registers under FARA😏, given recent selective emphasis on FARA violations.

              1. Tom, you think Francis’ Argentinian origins make him suspect regarding immigration?

                What country should popes come from that would make them acceptable to American conservatives?

                1. It’s possible that the current pope’s views on immigration are influenced by Latino/ Argentine roots.
                  We’ve never had an American pope, so a staunchly conservative, “Make America Great Again” pope from America’s heartland would make him “acceptable to American conservatives”.

              2. Tom writes
                “I’d have to dig back into the Pius VI’s”

                Pius VI was pope during the 1700s. I could be wrong but me thinks civil rights wasnt en vogue back then, but just because I write as such, our resident David Brock paid troll. Ms, Peter H, will disagree. Prithy what say ye, Pettros?

                Meanwhile, the Civil Rights people just took a hit due to a fake hate crime staged by “Empire” actor, Jussie Smollett. He paid his Nigerian bodybuilder friends and personal trainers to stage the so called “hate crime”.

                Given that they are Nigerian, and have the physique of death along with a very lavish lifestyle in America, these guys are going to sing like canaries, hope to not be deported, and Jussie Smollett will join the ranks of David Brock’s troll list, make up sheet against Trump, and be the sissies all Brock trolls are.

                Developing!

                “Jussie Smollett Case: Brothers Questioned By Police Were Paid $3,500 To Stage Attack, Which Was Rehearsed Days Before, Sources Say“

                https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/02/16/sources-brothers-released-bought-rope-used-in-jussie-smollett-attack/

                1. Estovir, here’s a glaring example of your shockingly stupid observations. How on earth is David Brock linked to Jessie Smollett..???

                  That’s like saying Friday’s mass shooting in Aurora Illinois is an embarrassment to Republicans because they support gun rights. Just a broad, mindless link that presumes everyone walks, talks and breaths the Culture Wars.

                  This warrior view you have of yourself is clinically delusional.

                  1. Petes Hills is having a really bad day trolling:

                    “everyone walks, talks and breaths”

                    Breath is a noun
                    Breathe is an intransitive verb

                    Go work on your English grammar.

                    David Brock is recruiting her trolls from Russia apparently

                    “Senate panel probing meetings between Russians and Obama economic officials”
                    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/feb/16/senate-panel-probing-meetings-between-russians-and/

                    The Senate Finance Committee is probing meetings reportedly held in 2015 between two of former President Barack Obama’s top economic officials and Maria Butina, a Russian national who later pleaded guilty to conspiring to covertly influence U.S. foreign policy, the panel said Friday.

                    Committee leadership published letters sent to the current heads of the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve raising concerns over reports that Ms. Butina, a 30-year-old gun-rights activist, met with officials from the agencies during the Obama administration.

                    1. Estovir, what does this Maria Butina article have to do with popes? Or Kurds? What does it have to do with anything?

                2. Good catch, Estovir. That should have been Pope Paul VI, not Pius XI, that I wrote.
                  I think the modern-era Pope Pius was Pius XII; then Pope John succeeded him, then it was Pope Paul VI.
                  I think there were then two popes with very short reigns before John Paul became pope…can”t recall their names, but they didn’t live very long after becoming popes.

      3. There are no refugees at the U.S. border, merely people flouting immigration laws.

  11. IS will survive in some way, maybe not holding large land areas, but I expect them to remain some sort of threat for some time. This whole buildup to Mission Accomplished has just been like one long teaser for a TV show to control the news cycle and keep trump’s name in the news.

    1. How about a bit of gratitude to Trump for the defeat of Isis, one of the worst scourges in the history of the world?

    2. Capt Mike:
      “This whole buildup to Mission Accomplished has just been like one long teaser for a TV show to control the news cycle and keep trump’s name in the news.“
      ***************************
      How many ships have you sunk with that head?

    3. They have demonstrated a capability to fight in units and take and hold territory. But they still cannot stand against modern military units. Their military units have been defeated and their government administration removed.

      But they will just breakdown into small cells, hide among non combatants, and continue to recruit and attack targets of opportunity – soft civilian targets and military units with lax security of poor force protection.

      They are no where near defeated. Their ideas still have appeal. They can still recruit. Unlike us, they have no need to pose for the next news cycle. The are playing the long game. We will be feeling their sting for years if not decades.

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