In view of report(s) received, my post is aimed to address one of the arguments in this thread. General knowledge if you will.
Al-Qaeda Networks and other like-minded groups including
Baathists morphed into the
overarching ISIS movement and they took control of numerous population centers in the process in 2013; ISIS stretched across Syria and Iraq by 2014 - too big for any regional country to handle on its own.
Obama administration
launched Operation Inherent Resolve to address this growing menace in 2014. This operation necessitated return of American boots on the ground in Iraq and American military footprint in Syria in support of groups which were resisting ISIS but were lacking in strength and unity to achieve breakthrough. The course of events are
well-documented.
Since these clashes were occurring in the thick of population centers in large part, there were reports of supplies such as food items and munitions ending up in the hands of ISIS at times. It is important to understand that much can happen in the course of a WAR and things do not necessarily move forward as per intent in every direction - ISIS wasn't a
uniformed foe either. Given these battlefield dynamics, hundreds of innocent people
lost their lives in airstrikes as well.
Airstrikes do not occur in vacuum either; anybody in the military or well-informed will testify that INFORMANTS on the ground enable airstrikes with appropriate INTEL on hand. There were also reports of ISIS-aligned combatants waving white flags and being taken into custody at times -
last of these in 2019.
Amidst the chaos, propaganda bots and spin-masters were also hard at work across social media platforms and otherwise - unfortunate reality of our times. Therefore, it is good practice to study a theme from its various angles to reach informed conclusion(s) in person. Every country which fought ISIS in any capacity deserve due recognition for its services in this regard in relevant discourses.
There might be shady underpinnings to ISIS but then a large number of countries have questionable geopolitics to begin with. One should be mindful of this reality while pointing a finger towards the other because remaining fingers will be pointing backwards in the course.
ISIS collapsed in the Middle East but there is
an offshoot in Afghanistan to be dealt with; it is proving to be a hard nut to crack unfortunately. It is a
rare sight to see US-led forces and Afghan Taliban working in tandem to rout a common foe from a particular region nevertheless. This isn't to say that all is well in Afghanistan by now - this country remains a safe haven for crooked elements in large numbers and violent incidents are frequent by extension. Distant impression is that these problems are deep-rooted and cannot be sorted out in the face of ethno-political tensions and rampant tribalism. Let us see if
the Intra-Afghan Dialogue will provide desired breakthrough.
