now that fear mongering is no longer needed......'ISIS Wave of Might Is Turning Into Ripple'

[spanone]

BAGHDAD — The extremists of the Islamic State appeared unstoppable after their sudden blitz through Iraq this summer, with its battle-hardened fighters continually raising their black flag over newly conquered areas.

Today, roughly a third of Iraq is dotted by active battle fronts, with intense fighting and occasional Islamic State victories. But analysts also say the days of easy and rapid gains for the jihadists may be coming to a close in Iraq, as the group’s momentum appears to be stalling.

The international airstrike campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has clearly played a role in slowing the Sunni Muslim group’s advance. But analysts say other factors are having a major effect, including unfavorable sectarian and political demographics, pushback from overrun communities, damage to the group’s financial base in Syria and slight improvements by ground forces in Iraq.

Across the territories the Islamic State holds, the group has overhauled its operations. Bases and hospitals have been evacuated and moved to civilian homes that are harder to identify and bomb, Iraqi officials said. Fighters who used to cross the desert in convoys now move in small groups or by motorcycle.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/06/world/middleeast/isis-wave-of-might-is-turning-into-ripple.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

[bklyncowgirl]

1. Or the president's much disparraged policies are working

I don't buy into the "Isis is just a conspiracy" idea but I also never bought the hype that they were this invincible force. Faced with real opposition they can be countered and in my opinion that opposition has to come from people in the area--not U.S. ground troops.

[nilesobek]

2. Yes, bombing their convoys,

the original Obama plan, is working nicely. ISIL will be reduced to another Arab Sunni petty insurgency.

[unblock]

3. no doubt republicans will claim isil is scared of a republican senate.

[Chathamization]

4. I really don't know why people still trust the media narrative. I've been saying for months that

the "ISIL" (more of a ragtag collection of different Sunni militant groups) offensive hasn't shown the ability to conquer areas that aren't Sunni Arab or take large cities from the other sectarian groups. The most they've been able to capture were small border towns. The idea that they were about to conquer Irbil or Baghdad seemed silly, but it was enough to excite people who weren't paying much attention (read: almost everyone).

Oh yeah, and there are still Yazidis trapped on Mt. Sinjar. But now that we're bombing again I suppose they'e no longer needed. So not only are we not getting the "we have to do something right now!" message we got daily when they were stranded in August, we're barely even hearing about them.