ISIS Rolls on in Iraq, and Syria despite Coalition Air Support

A full year of aerial support from the US-led coalition of air forces bombing Islamic State (ISIS) targets has not slowed the methodical march of ISIS fighters. In the past day alone, two high-ranking Iraqi generals were killed by ISIS gunmen west of Baghdad in Anbar Province; while in Syria, five villages along the border with Turkey fell to ISIS forces. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the five villages had been held by Syrian rebel forces in an area that the US and Turkey say they will jointly target. But to some, it’s too little too late. The US military will not commit ground troops and despite the claim that the coalition air support has killed as many as 15,000 ISIS gunmen there continues to be no significant slowing of the ISIS death march. Meanwhile, in the United States the FBI is warning art dealers to be alert to artifacts being offered for sale that are part of the ISIS plunder stolen from Iraq and Syria.