There's important news from Syria: the ISIS siege of Deir ez-Zor has been broken. This may not sound like much, and undoubtedly many of you have never even heard of Deir ez-Zor, but it is actually big news. Almost since the first appearance of ISIS, those terrorists have held about half of Deir ez-Zor and all of the surrounding countryside. The other half of the city was held by forces loyal to Assad. Almost 100,000 people were under siege by ISIS for about three years. They were supplied principally by drops from the air. Now, Assad forces have broken through the ISIS line and ended the siege. This is yet another big defeat for ISIS. Couple it with the loss of Mosul in Iraq and the impending loss of Raqqa in Syria and you have a season of major defeat for ISIS.
These events are not just a loss for ISIS. They are also another instance in which the Assad forces have actually been fighting against ISIS. For many years, Assad and his allies (Iran, Russia and Hezbollah) have focused on fighting the non-ISIS Sunni rebels. They claimed to fight ISIS, but they really did not. Now that ISIS is collapsing on the battlefield, Assad's forces have joined in. No matter what one may think of Assad and his allies, it is a good thing to have more fronts opened against ISIS. It means that they may disappear soon from Syria and Iraq. Let's hope so.
These events are not just a loss for ISIS. They are also another instance in which the Assad forces have actually been fighting against ISIS. For many years, Assad and his allies (Iran, Russia and Hezbollah) have focused on fighting the non-ISIS Sunni rebels. They claimed to fight ISIS, but they really did not. Now that ISIS is collapsing on the battlefield, Assad's forces have joined in. No matter what one may think of Assad and his allies, it is a good thing to have more fronts opened against ISIS. It means that they may disappear soon from Syria and Iraq. Let's hope so.
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