because things seem to be looking better for the people of Iraq.
Alternate Title - The ISIS Offensive in Iraq Begins to Sputter
as Opposition to It Grows and Becomes More Organized
The information in the multiple sources I follow has begun to make me believe today that the tide in Iraq has begun to turn.
Iraqi government forces seem to have gotten their act together to some degree and have become more effective.
Huge numbers of Iraqis - Shia, Kurdish, and Sunni - are volunteering to go to the fronts to battle against the ISIS.
The ISIS's killing many civilians and captured soldiers and then putting videos of these events up on the internet has generated a very strong anti-ISIS reaction in Iraq.
ISIS also seems to be sticking to its standard strategy of attacking and looting areas and then withdrawing when challenged.
It seems that the primary objective of this ISIS offensive in Iraq may have been to loot whatever money, weapons, and military equipment they could and to then transport this back to the base they have established in northeastern Syria.
This will probably leave the Iraqi Sunni Arab armed opposition groups who have been cooperating with the ISIS twisting in the wind, but that's standard procedure for the ISIS.
One of the points which concerns me now is what will happen to large towns and cities such as Mosul and Tikrit which are now ISIS occupied as Iraqi forces push ISIS forces back? If ISIS forces dig in in these places how will they be dislodged without heavy civilian casualties?
One note about Iraqi Kurdish forces, they have been ordered to defend thier positions wherever they are and that retreat is not an option. They have also been ordered not to advance and attack but to resist with their full force any attacks made on their positions.