- Joined
- Apr 13, 2011
- Messages
- 34,951
- Reaction score
- 16,311
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Socialist
Fallujah, the major Iraqi city that ISIS has held since January 2014, has officially been retaken. Iraqi army troops seized the last ISIS-controlled district in the city on Sunday, with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi appearing on television to give a victory speech. The city that ISIS has held longer than any other in Iraq is, for the moment, out of the militant group's hands.
This is the beginning of the end for ISIS's territorial control in Iraq. After Fallujah, there's only one more urban center in ISIS's possession: Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. ISIS's defeat in Fallujah, a longtime stronghold, reveals that it's now no longer a question of if but when Mosul falls to the Iraqi government.
But while Iraq is on the verge of ending ISIS's reign of terror, that's no longer enough. Now that the ISIS endgame is approaching, the country needs to get much better at addressing the root causes of ISIS's rise — most notably, deep sectarian tensions. These haven't gotten better over the course of the ISIS fight. In some ways, they've gotten worse.
So while ISIS's looming defeat is a cause for celebration, it's looking more and more like Iraq doesn't have a good plan for preventing it — or something like it — from rising again.
Read more @: ISIS controlled Fallujah longer than any other Iraqi city. Iraq just took it back.
Another major set back for ISIS. ISIS controlled Fallujah longer than any other city and now it has fallen to the Iraqi army and allied Iraqi army militias. It seems its only a matter of time before Mosul falls. However, sectarian divisions still run deep in Iraq, and if Iraq ever wants to see a stable government again they still have a long way to go.