‘Caliphate’ bites the dust?
With Iraqi forces flushing IS out of Tel Afar and securing Nineveh province, and the Syrian Arab Army squeesing IS positions all the way into Lebanon, it seems the noose is finally tightening around the so called caliphate. Way back in ’13, in what seems another world from another time, not long after Gaddafi was killed by a mob and Libya descended into chaos, it seemed Syria would be next, and just as quickly. That was when the international media parroted the ‘wolf at the door’ rhetoric; about supposed freedom fighters barging on the door to Damascus.
Yet the Bashar al Assad government dug in its heels and opted for the long fight. Over time it has been assisted by Hezbollah, Iran, and Russia, to the point that Turkish and Chinese governments are also forming part of a grand alliance. Once the dust from the Syrian war settles, observers and old power players will find a new grouping calling a bulk of the shots, since they fought the hard fight when the old guard was busy still financing and arming ‘rebels’ that would do their bidding.
Yet this win will not be without a significant cost. Since its brutal takeover of Mosul in ’14, IS put entire villages, thousands of Shi’a and other minorities, to the sword, altering ethnic and sectarian demographics that held for millennia. As the war changes direction, those fighting these monsters must also go after the powerhouses and patrons that arm and finance the ISs of this world. Otherwise the fight would only be half won.
