Islamic State militants being killed at level they cannot sustain - UK general

[webfact]

Islamic State militants being killed at level they cannot sustain - UK general

By Kylie MacLellan

REUTERS

 

A member of the Iraqi security forces is pictured during a battle with Islamic State militants in west Mosul, Iraq February 25, 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition effort against Islamic State is killing the group's fighters more quickly than it can replace them, a senior British general said on Tuesday, with more than 45,000 killed by coalition air strikes up to August last year.

 

On Tuesday, U.S.-backed Iraqi forces continued their offensive in Mosul, where several thousand Islamic State (IS) militants, including many who travelled from Western countries to join up, are believed to be based.

 

"We are killing Daesh at a rate that they simply can't sustain," said Major General Rupert Jones, deputy commander for the Combined Joint Task Force coalition, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

 

"The enemy cannot sustain the attrition that they are suffering and therefore they lose terrain, they lose battles."

 

The top American commander in Iraq said earlier this month he believed U.S.-backed forces would recapture Islamic State's two major strongholds - Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq - within the next six months.

 

Jones said that while the battle would not be over with the fall of Mosul or Raqqa, it would be the beginning of the end.

 

"The inevitability of their destruction just becomes really a matter of time," he said, adding that the group's leadership was now focussed on little more than survival.

 

"BRUTAL REGIME"

 

The coalition estimates that the number of IS fighters in Iraq and Syria is at its lowest level in more than 2.5 years, with the group having lost 62 percent of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and 30 percent in Syria.

 

Jones said the number of foreign fighters travelling to join IS had dropped by between 75 and 90 percent, both due to it being harder to get in and out of Iraq and Syria and because the reality of doing so had been exposed as unappealing.

 

"The big idea that Daesh were putting out there, the kind of glamour ... has been exposed for what it is, it is a lie," he said. "They recognise that what you are actually signing yourself up to is going to live under a brutal regime."

 

He said Islamic State had refocused its attention on radicalising people outside Iraq and Syria to carry out attacks locally, so the coalition still had work to do on countering the group's ideology.

 

The coalition estimates that IS activity on Twitter has fallen by 45 percent since 2014, with 360,000 of the group's Twitter accounts suspended, and the lifespan of an IS-linked social media account reduced to less than two days.

 

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-01

[tagalong]

Keep up the good work....Take no prisoners....These are just the lowest form of life on this planet...In Australia we fight fire with fire......

[giddyup]

Unfortunately there will always be a few cockroaches left hiding under the fridge.

[sungod]

Makes a change to read 'happy new's among all the usual doom and gloom from the press,

 

What I cant understand is why we try to stop them traveling from UK to Syria/Iraq in the first place? We should be laying on free transport.

[ilostmypassword]

The problem with this analysis is that it takes no account of the aftermath. Even now in Iraq when a city is liberated from ISIL the Iraqi and irregular troops treat the locals like the enemy. Thus doing ISIL's recruiting work for them. McMaster, after he liberated Tal Afar, treated the locals decently. The result was a very peaceful and grateful town. After he left and the Iraqi armed forces took over and began to treat the locals with the usual resentment and brutality, the problems began all over again. 

[simple1]

31 minutes ago, sungod said:

Makes a change to read 'happy new's among all the usual doom and gloom from the press,

 

What I cant understand is why we try to stop them traveling from UK to Syria/Iraq in the first place? We should be laying on free transport.

For sure you know the terrible crimes against humanity 'they' carry out, so why would it be OK to facilitate their travel as you would be complicit in the evil they do.

Edited March 1, 2017 by simple1

[TEFLKrabi]

28 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

The problem with this analysis is that it takes no account of the aftermath. Even now in Iraq when a city is liberated from ISIL the Iraqi and irregular troops treat the locals like the enemy. Thus doing ISIL's recruiting work for them. McMaster, after he liberated Tal Afar, treated the locals decently. The result was a very peaceful and grateful town. After he left and the Iraqi armed forces took over and began to treat the locals with the usual resentment and brutality, the problems began all over again. 

Not sure where you get that info. Right now, I understand the majority of people in East Mosul are much happier and living without hassle from the coalition forces.

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, sungod said:

What I cant understand is why we try to stop them traveling from UK to Syria/Iraq in the first place?

Maybe because they don't travel directly from the UK to Syria/Iraq, ie., travel to Turkey, then bus into Syria/Iraq. Many young radicalized UK citizens get funds from Jihadist connections.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/world-news/60065/how-are-british-jihadists-travelling-to-syria-and-iraq

[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, TEFLKrabi said:

Not sure where you get that info. Right now, I understand the majority of people in East Mosul are much happier and living without hassle from the coalition forces.

I'm sure they are right now.  Let's see how they're being treated 6 months after.

[sungod]

4 hours ago, simple1 said:

For sure you know the terrible crimes against humanity 'they' carry out, so why would it be OK to facilitate their travel as you would be complicit in the evil they do.

Yep, you are right, we should let them commit these crimes at home, and once we catch them put them in a prison where they get to watch TV and have visits at weekend as opposed to dropping bombs on their heads, ISIS have feelings to I guess. 

 

 

[simple1]

5 minutes ago, sungod said:

Yep, you are right, we should let them commit these crimes at home, and once we catch them put them in a prison where they get to watch TV and have visits at weekend as opposed to dropping bombs on their heads, ISIS have feelings to I guess. 

 

So what are you trying to say - deport all those of a Muslim faith from your home country or something else? 'Cause for sure it would be illegal to permit a known terrorist or sympathiser to travel overseas.

[Panda13]

There must be an awful lot of virgins in Paradise, if all these guys that are snuffin it, get 72 each !

[sungod]

8 minutes ago, simple1 said:

So what are you trying to say - deport all those of a Muslim faith from your home country or something else? 'Cause for sure it would be illegal to permit a known terrorist or sympathiser to travel overseas.

Have not mentioned anything about religion, don't even go down that road. Good try though, you work in the media?

[Chicog]

Don't worry, as long as the US keeps bombing, there will always be willing replacements.

[bangkok101]

ahhh....good news is so refreshing, better than cold beer and sex (sometimes)

[TEFLKrabi]

I'm sure they are right now.  Let's see how they're being treated 6 months after.

Pretty sure it will still be better than when IS were in control.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[55Jay]

9 hours ago, simple1 said:

For sure you know the terrible crimes against humanity 'they' carry out, so why would it be OK to facilitate their travel as you would be complicit in the evil they do.

The UK is uber-sensitive to religious and multi-cultural needs.  If a UK citizen feels so strongly about going to fight for ISIS, then the UK military should drop the ramp on a cargo plane and give them a free ride.  A one way ticket but hey, it's the thought that counts. 

[boomerangutang]

          Who says "they can't sustain" their numbers?   I say they'll get more recruits than before.  Main reason:  Trump.  He's the best campaign poster boy for joining ISIS.   ISIS always wanted America-haters to believe the US is waging a war on Islam.  Now their dream has come true, particularly with Bannon calling the shots.   Bannon is on record, numerous times - fueling religious fires.

[boomerangutang]

5 hours ago, Panda13 said:

There must be an awful lot of virgins in Paradise, if all these guys that are snuffin it, get 72 each !

I always wondered what happened if a gay ISIS got killed.  Would he get 72 virgin boys?  And what if a woman fighter got snuffed out.  Would she get 72 boys to play with?   And what about gay women?   ......the mind reels.   

 

Also:  if the guy does a new virgin per day, what does he do after 72 days? Can he petition Allah for an added allotment? What if he gets them pregnant?  Do babies fall out of the sky - already dressed in black and armed with Uzi's?    So many questions.