Friday November 10, 2017

I've Been Thinking:

On Thursday the Syrian army announced their total victory over ISIS. The announcement is premature - but important.

There is still fighting in the area near the Syrian / Iraqi border, especially near the town of Albu Kamal, one of the first ISIS centers now one of the last.

The Syrian announcement is especially important on two levels. The first is that the Syrian army decidedly chose to release this statement at all. According to the statement about ISIS, or Daesh as the Syrians refers to them, this is "the fall of the terrorist Daesh organization's project in the region."

The second reason this is important is because there are reports, even if they are only rumors, that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is in Albu Kamal.
There are reliable reports of high level ISIS prisoners but no comment or confirmation about Baghdadi.

The Syrian military is both very public and very secretive. They send out exaggerated, hyperbolic, incomplete, announcements that neither relate the obvious nor confirm it.

If Baghdadi is alive, he is on the run or in hiding. If he is holed up near Albu Kamal, or in Syrian custody this is very significant for ISIS. It could mean that ISIS / Daesh, is nearing the end.

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