Yay. We Won!

[Minimalist]

Basically what it means is that their dreams of a "caliphate" are over.  Tactically it means they are no longer obligated to concentrate for a hopeless defense of a smudge on a map and can go back to blowing up Shi'ites wherever they find them.

I think it means they can melt back into the woodwork until the next radical group starts coalescing.

Strategically, it might give the Iraqis a little breathing room. I sure hope they can gird their loins this time.

The problem with Iraq is that it is ungovernable.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Of course. It's a synthetic nation.

[Fireball]

The operation was a success, but the patient died.

[Rev. Rye]

This was a victory but I would not bust out the booze yet . Sure ISIS has lost it's capital in Iraq but I don't think there beat yet. Group like ISIS are like weeds . But still take what we can get .

I'm sure I've said this before: guerrilla groups are like the hydra. Cut off one head, another will grow back. Of course, the success of either side in this sort of case hinges on who the civilians affected by this will consider the lesser evil: if they end up preferring the Iraqi government to the Islamic State, then things might end up going relatively well. If they end up considering ISIS the lesser evil, well, the Iraqis (the government and its people) are well and truly fucked. I'm sure I might have more to say, but it's almost midnight and I really need to get to sleep.