During the week ending on Sunday, August 27, 2017, TURKEY retreated from their days of aggressive sieges of CIZRE, SILOPI, DIYARBAKIR and NUSAYBIN, predominantly KURDISH, which TURKEY had converted into a suburban war zone area as TURKEY was on the defense as they were subject to an internal military “Coup D’État” that failed as gunfire and explosions erupted in which 265 people died, 161 of them civilians during July of 2016. As a result of the failed “Coup D’État”, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency, extended the period during which suspects can be detained without charge to 30 days, closed more than 1,000 private schools and closed more than 1,200 associations. A wide scale purge led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his governing AKP re-escalated this week as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan focused his attention on another purge of the Fethullah Gulen opposition movement supporters on the heals of celebrating the victory of the YES side in the referendum that was held on Sunday, April 16, 2017 whereby the majority of the TURKISH population voted in favour of TURKEY’s parliamentary system to be converted into a presidential system effectively consolidating power into one executive branch with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its primary executor. Therefore, those opposing the vote say the proposed constitutional changes will give “Free Reign” to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has already been pushing the boundaries of his power as his governing AKP has been utilizing an increasingly authoritarian style since the failed “Coup D’État” attempt which led to an intense crackdown leading to the arrests of over 47,000 government critics, academics, journalists, military officials and civil servants. Nonetheless, TURKEY ignored all criticisms from foreign powers and went straight ahead this week with further crackdown measures leading to GERMAN Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel stating that TURKEY will never be a member of the European Union (EU) as long as its current President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, governs TURKEY. However, the GERMAN Foreign Minister elaborated that it is not because GERMANY does not want TURKEY but rather it is because the TURKISH government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are moving fast away from everything that EUROPE stands for. Accession talks for TURKEY into the EU have come to a virtual halt although TURKEY remains a candidate for EU membership as TURKEY’s EU allies fear that sweeping new powers that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won in a tightly fought referendum in April are pushing TURKEY away from EU democratic values. Nonetheless, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to reiterate that both the crackdown and the increased presidential powers are needed to help tackle serious challenges to TURKEY’s security both at home and beyond its borders. Therefore, TURKEY went straight ahead this week with a statutory decree as part of the state of emergency whereby new police officers, judges and prosecutor positions have been created in TURKEY. According to the decree, almost 32,000 new police officer positions were created in addition to 4,000 judge and prosecutor positions and 2,000 judge candidate positions. Also, according to the decree, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) will report to the President who will also become head of the intelligence coordination board. Meanwhile, TURKEY and RUSSIA reached an agreement on the procurement of the S-400 missile defence system from RUSSIA such that the executive committee of TURKEY’s defense industry will make a final decision shortly. Moving on to IRAQ, IRAQI and ALLIED forces have pushed ISIS militants back from MOSUL, their last major stronghold in IRAQ, whereby IRAQI special forces first liberated the eastern half of MOSUL from ISIS in its entirety subsequent to ALLIANCE forces seizing complete control of most of western MOSUL from ISIS. It is important to note that IRAQI forces put pressure on ISIS to the point of ISIS relinquishing control of MOSUL as the world watched the scenes of jubilation as IRAQI forces liberated the OLD MOSUL City from ISIS. However, with 40,000 plus dead in the battle to take back OLD MOSUL City from ISIS, the scale of civilian casualties reveals a massacre with many bodies still buried under the rubble and the level of human suffering immense. However, ISIS is far from eradicated in IRAQ as several strongholds still remain such that the final battles to push ISIS out of these places will be more complicated than the previous straightforward fights in places such as FALLUJAH and TIKRIT. Today, ISIS still controls three towns consisting of TAL AFAR, west of MOSUL; HAWIJA, south of KIRKUK; and AL QAIM, west of ANBAR whereby each fight will have its own set of complicated political, military and foreign policy issues. In addition, many ISIS militias have taken to the hills and began to wage a classic rural guerrilla war, while some ISIS sleeper cells have also been activated at the border of Baghdad, the IRAQI capital. Thus, ISIS has now returned to the status of an insurgent or terrorist group as the Islamic State of IRAQ and SYRIA can no longer call itself a state as ISIS has lost all capacity to act as a state but rather ISIS now stands exposed as a GANGSTER sham.
On the heels of the IRAQI military victory in MOSUL, IRAQI forces have now broke through ISIS’s defences inside the northern city of TAL AFAR and reached the city centre that represents a major gain in the battle for the ISIS’s last urban stronghold in IRAQ. However, ISIS has been putting up stiff resistance although the IRAQI security forces have been able to take out ISIS targets with soldiers on the ground and air strikes and smart artillery from the U.S. led ALLIANCE. As a friendly reminder, TAL AFAR is located 70 km west of IRAQ’s second largest city of MOSUL and 150 km east of the SYRIAN border such that TAL AFAR lies along the supply route between SYRIA and the former ISIS stronghold of MOSUL. In addition, TAL AFAR has produced some of ISIS’s most senior commanders such that it was a strategic site used by ISIS to develop its military personnel. Unfortunately, more than 30,000 innocent civilians were forced to flee the city of TAL AFAR and the surrounding areas, in anticipation of the IRAQI strike, while some 10,000 civilians remain trapped inside. Moving on to SYRIA, a ceasefire across SYRIA appears to be broken after its brokers, RUSSIA, TURKEY and IRAN obtained approval of the plan from the UN Security Council overriding all previous failed peace proposals and finally ending the six-year conflict. Although these talks represented the most serious diplomatic efforts in months, U.S. President, Donald Trump’s authorization of the firing of 59 TOMAHAWK cruise missiles at the SYRIAN Armed Forces in response to what the U.S. believes was a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 100 people authorized by President Bashar al-Assad has derailed the entire peace process. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could not agree on who was responsible for the chemical attacks. Although the 80 plus deaths from the chemical attacks have been widely blamed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, RUSSIA has denied the SYRIAN regime carried out the chemical attacks. Therefore, the U.S. and RUSSIA agreed for the moment to disagree as the war raged on this week although TURKEY, IRAN and RUSSIA signed an agreement at the SYRIAN cease-fire talks in KAZAKHSTAN several weeks ago calling for the creation of four de-escalation zones in SYRIA that represent the latest attempt by all key players in the region to reduce the violence in SYRIA including the commitment by President Bashar al-Assad that the SYRIAN air force will halt flights over the designated areas in SYRIA. Unfortunately, the new cease-fire deal including the four de-escalation zones have been the subject of numerous violations from the outset as tensions seem to continue to erupt albeit Russia and the U.S. continuing to discuss the situation in round-the-clock mode anticipating that eventually the de-escalation zones will be fully under control. However, tensions seemed to de-escalate this week as the SYRIAN Army under the control of President Bashar al-Assad and allied LEBANESE militant group HEZBOLLAH fighters captured several ISIS positions on strategic hilltops along the SYRIAN-LEBANESE border. These captures on strategic hilltops along the SYRIAN-LEBANESE border come ahead of an anticipated LEBANESE offensive to clear the ISIS extremists from the LEBANESE side of the border which slowed down this week as ISIS asked the SYRIAN Army and its ally HEZBOLLAH to let ISIS withdraw from SYRIA’s border with LEBANON to the eastern province of DEIR AL-ZOR which the SYRIAN Army and HEZBOLLAH agreed to in principal. On a positive note, U.S. backed fighters have surrounded the Syrian city of RAQQA as they try to oust the ISIS militants from their de facto capital in SYRIA whereby the ALLIANCE fighters consisting of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a mainly KURDISH and ARAB coalition, have cut off all routes into and out of RAQQA. As a friendly reminder, nearly 200,000 people and 5,000 ISIS militants live in RAQQA such that the efforts to retake the SYRIAN city has now drawn dozens of U.S. military advisors deployed directly inside RAQQA city itself with U.S. Marines providing artillery support against ISIS from the surrounding countryside. It appears that these coordinated efforts are paying off as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have made yet another huge advance across the southern countryside of RAQQA liberating approximately half of the RAQQA enclave. Fighters of the U.S. backed, KURDISH led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continue to punch their way through ISIS lines in RAQQA city as KURDISH forces are literally shooting their way through the streets of RAQQA, concentrating fire on ISIS positions hidden in the urban ruin of RAQQA city while ISIS fights back hard. Unfortunately, ISIS is showing resilience and resolve to hold onto RAQQA as ISIS militants pushed back SYRIAN army forces advancing on one of the last towns still in ISIS hands in the province of RAQQA killing over two dozen soldiers and seizing military vehicles. It appears that the counterattack by ISIS short-circuited a SYRIAN army offensive on MAADAN that brought SYRIAN army forces within only a few kilometers of ISIS’s stronghold in recent days. In summary, the RUSSIA backed SYRIAN army forces have been on an offensive, moving toward the ISIS held territories in DEIR EL-ZOUR province in the east from northern, central and southern SYRIA. However, on a positive note, RUSSIA’s air force is now focusing on supporting the SYRIAN army’s offensive in DEIR EL-ZOUR as SYRIAN government forces control around half the city and a nearby air base both of which are besieged by the ISIS militants. In my opinion, TURKEY’s participation in the military battle against ISIS is a positive addition to the ALLIANCE albeit TURKEY’s negative stance against the PKK that in my opinion is currently unwarranted and deteriorating. However, with the majority governing AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it appears that TURKEY’s future is heading for more war and bloodshed. Unfortunately, the governing AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have chosen the path of war with the PKK as opposed to diplomacy via the KURDISH HDP political party which secured close to 11% during the last TURKISH elections. Therefore, in my opinion, the governing AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will learn the hard way that nobody on the outside world looking in is stupid but rather everyone chooses to close their eyes and allow TURKEY to continue with its ethnic cleansing campaign of the KURDS in exchange for TURKEY signing a deal with the European Union (EU) to stem the flow of refugees arriving in GREECE. In exchange for reducing human trafficking and improving living conditions for 2.5 million refugees within its borders, TURKEY was supposed to receive Euro 3 billion in financial aid in return, the possibility of visa-free travel for its citizens, and a reopening of EU membership talks. In my opinion, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the governing AKP will learn the hard way that the failed “Coup D’État” exposes the deep discontent within the TURKISH military ranks as the governing AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan persist with their quest to annihilate the HDP and the KURDS as the AKP is converting itself into a majority fascist regime with its house cleaning exercises whereby virtually all dissidents have been fired. In my opinion, the European parliament vote to halt TURKEY’s EU accession backed by a resolution condemning the TURKISH government’s disproportionate repressive measures after the failed “Coup D’État” in July was long overdue as TURKEY has demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt, with its repressive measures over all opposition, that TURKEY does not share common values, morals, principals, ethics and views as the EU such that TURKEY does not fit into the EU mould. However, in my opinion, TURKEY still represents a major player on the European economic stage such that the EU will nonetheless have to negotiate deals with TURKEY as an independent NON-EU member country regarding the huge refugee crisis. In my opinion, in exchange for reducing human trafficking and improving living conditions for 2.5 million refugees within its borders, TURKEY should only receive Euro 1.5 billion, half of the initial proposed 3 billion, in financial aid along with visa-free travel for its citizens who do not pose any significant risks outside of TURKISH borders. Finally, the wide scale purge led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his governing AKP re-escalated this week as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan focused his attention on another purge of the Fethullah Gulen opposition movement supporters on the heals of celebrating the victory of the YES side in the referendum that was held on Sunday, April 16, 2017 whereby the majority of the TURKISH population voted in favour of TURKEY’s parliamentary system to be converted into a presidential system effectively consolidating power into one executive branch with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its primary executor. Ironically, TURKEY ignored all criticisms from foreign powers and went straight ahead this week with further crackdown measures leading to GERMAN Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel stating that TURKEY will never be a member of the European Union (EU) as long as its current President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, governs TURKEY. In my opinion this was necessary albeit the reality that GERMANY’s remarks are likely to further inflame relations between the two NATO allies that have already gone sour after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged GERMAN Turks to boycott GERMANY’s main parties in next month’s general elections in GERMANY. In my opinion, GERMANY is stuck with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan whether or not they like his authoritarian style as GERMANY and TURKEY have deep economic and cultural ties with millions of ethnic TURKS living in GERMANY, millions of GERMANS flocking to TURKEY’s beaches and historic cities and almost 7,000 German companies establishing operations in TURKEY such as giants like DEUTSCHE BANK, SIEMENS and VOLKSWAGEN to tiny importers of textiles and food that translates into trade between the two countries in excess of $ 36 billion per year. Therefore, in my opinion, GERMANY is flexing its muscle on TURKEY although GERMANY is limited in imposing any type of economic sanctions against TURKEY in light of trade between the two countries in excess of $ 36 billion per year as if GERMANY chooses to punish TURKEY, GERMANY will simultaneously punish itself. In my opinion, this further reflects the evolving geopolitical stage whereby trying to punish one’s opposition for bad behaviours places the accuser, GERMANY, in a worse position than the accused, TURKEY, because any punishment on TURKEY will also be felt by GERMANY since the two countries are economically intertwined with $ 36 billion per year in trade such that GERMANY finds itself in the horrible position of damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Thus, in my opinion, to the extent TURKEY does not commit another genocide like the Armenian Genocide, whereby the Ottoman government systematically exterminated 1.5 million Armenians, mostly Ottoman citizens, within the Ottoman Empire and its successor state, the Republic of Turkey, TURKEY has the economic clout to operate outside of acceptable democratic principals as promulgated by the EU without anyone really being able to punish TURKEY. In my opinion, the majority of TURKISH citizens who democratically voted to give President Recep Tayyip Erdogan free reign of TURKEY implicitly approve of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian style such that it is really up to the citizens of TURKEY to wake up a smell the FASCISM. Ironically, as the EU criticizes TURKEY, TURKEY and RUSSIA reached an agreement on the procurement of the S-400 missile defense system from RUSSIA with TURKEY sending the message to the EU that TURKEY was working in cooperation with RUSSIA, IRAN and SYRIA but that there should be no reason for the EU and TURKEY to be on opposite sides in NATO. In my opinion, this reflects the new geopolitical wrangling of for every action there is an equal and opposing reaction like a giant game of chess so that everybody is indirectly controlled from making a mess. Moving on to IRAQ, the IRAQI offensives in MOSUL whereby IRAQI government forces put enough pressure on ISIS to finally force ISIS to relinquish control of MOSUL has shattered the ISIS dream for its self declared caliphate albeit the challenge now facing the IRAQI forces to make the victory over ISIS in MOSUL last. That is, after almost nine months of fierce fighting, the campaign to recapture MOSUL from ISIS has drawn to a bitter end but the struggle for IRAQ’s future is far from over as the fall of MOSUL exposes ethnic and sectarian fractures that have plagued IRAQ for over a decade. That is, the victory risks triggering new violence between ARABS and KURDS over disputed territories or between SUNNIS and SHIITES over claims to power fuelled by outside powers that have shaped IRAQ’s since the 2003 U.S. led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s SUNNI minority rule and brought the Iran backed SHIITE majority to power. In my opinion, it will be extremely difficult to eradicate ISIS completely from IRAQ as ISIS still controls three towns consisting of TAL AFAR, west of MOSUL; HAWIJA, south of KIRKUK; and AL QAIM, west of ANBAR whereby each fight will have its own set of complicated political, military and foreign policy issues. Therefore, in my opinion, the last three strongholds in IRAQ consisting of TAL AFAR, HAWIJA and AL QAIM will be the most brutal and savage wars yet fought in IRAQ as ISIS has laid the foundation for martyrdom. That is, ISIS has in essence sent the message to its remaining conclaves that their only choice is to fight until death at the hands of the ALLIANCE, as the only other option is to choose to be killed by ISIS itself. Therefore, in my opinion now that ISIS has entered the final realm of one of the most brutal civil wars in history, ISIS has in essence elevated its game to complete and utter Barbarian, Neanderthal, Self-Centered, Egotistical, Narcissistic, Masochistic, Sadistic, Idiosyncratic, Sociopathic and Psychopathic maniacs. In my opinion, taking out ISIS in TAL AFAR will be complicated because TURKEY is worried that SHIITE militias will also take revenge on ethnic TURKS living in the town. That is, both SUNNI Muslim and SHIITE Muslim TURKS lived in TAL AFAR before ISIS took over while the SUNNI Muslim TURKS who remained are considered by many to be supporters of ISIS such that they may also be attacked as part of the liberation of TAL AFAR. Nonetheless, the IRAQI military with 400,000 plus ground troops, predominantly transferred from MOSUL, managed to retake from ISIS the neighbourhoods of NIDA, AL-NASR, SAAD and TALIAA around the Ottoman-era citadel of TAL AFAR. In my opinion, reclaiming TAL AFAR from ISIS will be a big blow to ISIS because of its strategic location as TAL AFAR is at a crossroads for ISIS fighters to reach parts of SYRIA that ISIS still controls and for ISIS to try to smuggle arms and other supplies from TURKEY. Unfortunately, 40,000 plus innocent civilians are once again forced to flee their homes as the battle for TAL AFAR intensifies albeit the theory that the IRAQI army has secured safe corridors out of the city when in actuality there is no such thing as a safe corridor when dealing with ISIS as ISIS will shoot one of their own if spotted trying to flee in the direction of the safe corridor. In my opinion, taking out ISIS in HAWIJA will be complicated because it is located in KIRKUK that is known as a disputed territory because IRAQI KURDS believe HAWIJA should be part of their nearby semi-autonomous region but IRAQI ARABS believe it is part of IRAQ. That is, if the SHIITE Muslim Arabs stay in HAWIJA after ISIS is expelled, this dilutes the KURDISH claims on the area. In addition, the SUNNI Muslim tribal leaders in this area are worried that if the IRAQI KURDISH military or the SHIITE Muslim militias take part in the battle against ISIS for HAWIJA, then the SUNNI Muslim tribes will be attacked as well as they are considered by many to be supporters of ISIS. In my opinion, taking out ISIS in AL QAIM will be complicated because AL QAIM is located on an international border, between IRAQ and SYRIA such that due to its strategic geographical location, AL QAIM is by far the most secure city held by ISIS. Thus, both SYRIA and IRAQ would have to coordinate a military campaign against ISIS in AL QAIM. However, with ISIS inevitably nearing its downfall in IRAQ, IRAQI security forces need to be prepared for a different kind of war against ISIS, shifting away from ground offensives to intelligence work and surgical airstrikes to counter an expected move by ISIS away from holding territory and back to a more terrorist role of a dispersed underground terror organization. In my opinion, ISIS is already laying the groundwork for a new terrorist strategy of hiding in remote areas, carrying out attacks in IRAQ and abroad and resorting to organized crime to bankroll future operations. Moving on to SYRIA, the SYRIAN government forces recapture of the entire former rebel stronghold of east ALEPPO in an offensive that left bodies in the streets and sparked global outrage managed to lead to a ceasefire across SYRIA that appears to now be broken after its brokers, RUSSIA, TURKEY and IRAN obtained approval from the UN Security Council. In my opinion, RUSSIA that invested much political time and energy in ending the fighting after bombing the opposition relentlessly for 15 months was the critical player in this ceasefire as RUSSIA managed to control the uncontrollable consisting of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, IRAN and SHIITE militias like Lebanon’s Hezbollah whereas TURKEY managed to control the Free Syrian Army (FSA) along with their affiliated rebel factions. Meanwhile, peace negotiations have stalled after TURKEY and ASSAD’s two main allies, RUSSIA and IRAN, initially backed these peace talks as guarantors of a fragile ceasefire. However, the allegations by Amnesty International that over thirteen thousand people were hanged at a SYRIAN prison in a secret crackdown on dissent by the current regime under the authority of President, Bashar al-Assad were excluded from the agenda for the fifth round of negotiations that concluded at the end of March. In my opinion, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's future should be off the agenda for now and the main focus of the talks should be governance, a new constitution and elections as the primary goal of these meetings should be to end the war in SYRIA and to implement a long-term sustainable solution for peace.
In regards to the derailed peace talks, the derailment is obviously due to U.S. President, Donald Trump’s authorization of the firing of 59 TOMAHAWK cruise missiles at the SYRIAN Armed Forces in response to what the U.S. believes was a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 people authorized by President Bashar al-Assad. That being said, RUSSIA has now formally denied any involvement by the SYRIAN Armed Forces and RUSSIA in these chemical attacks and has gone so far as to accuse the SYRIAN rebels to be behind these chemical attacks on their own people. Therefore, the U.S. and RUSSIA agreed for the moment to disagree as the war raged on this week while officials from TURKEY that backs the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and IRAN and RUSSIA that backs the current regime under President Bashar al-Assad watched as the cease-fire agreement that establishes four de-escalation zones was violated once again. In my opinion, although the new cease-fire deal including the four de-escalation zones have been the subject of numerous violations from the outset as tensions seem to continue to erupt, I believe that RUSSIAN and U.S. round-the-clock discussions anticipating that eventually the de-escalation zones will be fully under control should be welcomed as a positive development in fully implementing the de-escalation zones. In my opinion, it is better for RUSSIA and the U.S. to try to work together to implement something in terms of de-escalation zones as opposed to sitting back and insuring that both parties achieve nothing. In regards to tensions de-escalating this week as the SYRIAN Army under the control of President Bashar al-Assad and allied LEBANESE militant group HEZBOLLAH fighters captured several ISIS positions on strategic hilltops along the SYRIAN-LEBANESE border, this strategic shift in focus by the SYRIAN Army on ISIS is key to overall peace in the region as the only issue that everybody in the region seem to agree upon is that ISIS needs to be contained to an underground organization without any significant control of land particularly along any major borders. Thus, to the extent the SYRIAN Army and HEZBOLLAH focus their efforts on ISIS as opposed to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), there is hope for peace in the region. In my opinion, the anticipated LEBANESE offensive to clear the ISIS extremists from the LEBANESE side of the border which slowed down this week as ISIS asked the SYRIAN Army and its ally HEZBOLLAH to let ISIS withdraw from SYRIA’s border with LEBANON to the eastern province of DEIR AL-ZOR which the SYRIAN Army and HEZBOLLAH agreed to in principal is a positive development. In my opinion, it is best the best strategy to keep the war with ISIS within IRAQ and SYRIA to minimize the risk of the entire middle east breaking out into wars with ISIS on smaller fronts in order to minimize civilian casualties and destruction of more territories. That being said, in this case allowing ISIS to retreat to DEIR AL-ZOR makes sense as DEIR AL-ZOR province, which borders IRAQ to the east, is almost entirely under ISIS control such that it is best to allow ISIS to concentrate itself in territories already under ISIS control to minimize ISIS reach around the remaining parts of the Middle East. In regards to U.S. backed fighters surrounding the Syrian city of RAQQA as they try to oust the ISIS militants from their de facto capital in SYRIA, capturing RAQQA would be a major achievement in the battle against ISIS and help bring an end to ISIS’s reign of terror trying to create a so-called Caliphate. In my opinion, ISIS has used RAQQA for over three years to stage deadly attacks on the Middle East and further overseas such that capturing RAQQA from ISIS would significantly reduce ISIS’s terrorist capabilities in the future. I believe that the coordinated efforts are paying off as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have made yet another huge advance across the southern countryside of RAQQA liberating approximately half of the RAQQA enclave. In my opinion, the current strategy whereby U.S. airpower drops a barrage of bombs to suppress ISIS movements behind and towards the front-lines within the city, while KURDISH forces on the ground let loose with a barrage of small arms fire to break up ISIS fighters at sight will be less effective moving forward as ISIS has now adopted guerrilla warfare tactics including the intentional usage of innocent civilians as human shields to avoid air strikes by ALLIANCE forces. In addition, the increasing ISIS usage of suicide car bombs, snipers, drones and tunnels to slow down SDF advances with the fight becoming a matter of life and death for both sides has inevitably reduced the pace of advancement by the SDF in RAQQA. Unfortuantely, due to ISIS guerrilla warfare tactics, the SYRIAN army ISIS militants pushed back SYRIAN army forces advancing on one of the last towns still in ISIS hands in the province of RAQQA killing over two dozen soldiers and seizing military vehicles. In my opinion, the counterattack by ISIS short-circuited a SYRIAN army offensive on MAADAN due to ISIS sheer adrenaline to do whatever it takes to holdback the SYRIAN army offensive on one of ISIS’s last strongholds consisting of DEIR AL-ZOR. In my opinion, SYRIAN government troops are advancing from three directions to encircle DEIR EL-ZOUR such that breaking the blockade of DEIR EL-ZOUR will mark the defeat of the strongest holds of ISIS in Syria. In my opinion, the ISIS attack set SYRIAN army forces back about 30 kilometres to the west of MAADAN allowing ISIS to recapture a number of villages in the areas they lost due to advancing SYRIAN army troops last month as ISIS was in survival mode given that MAADAN lies halfway between RAQQA city and DEIR EL-ZOUR city which is divided between SYRIAN army and ISIS controlled areas. In summary, I refer to “World Peace Lennon Ivan Style – Part 261” as the belief that IRAQ and SYRIA victories are critical to ISIS decimation but SYRIAN ceasefire between ASSAD and FSA also key while SYRIAN negotiations must result in peace albeit new realities of geopolitical wrangling whereby for every action there is an equal and opposing reaction like a giant game of chess so that everybody is indirectly controlled from making a mess while being constrained to confess that operating in a damned if you do and damned if you don’t labyrinth of perpetual stress.
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