March 22, 2019

Victory Over ISIS?

The caliphate may be gone, but the toxic and radical ideology remains a threat.

The Islamic State’s “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria was the physical — and temporary — manifestation of what we’ve long called Jihadistan — a borderless nation of Islamofascists with global reach. America’s long war with these asymmetric adversaries arguably began in 1993 with the first bombing of the World Trade Center, and it continues today. Its very asymmetry is part of why the fight has been so difficult.

It’s important to keep this in mind when reading reports such as this from Fox News: “The caliphate has crumbled, and the final offensive is over.” Embedded journalists in Baghouz, Syria, report that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has waged a successful campaign against the last stronghold of ISIS. “This final corner of the caliphate was in the far eastern desert of Syria,” Fox reports. “It was where ISIS first captured territory, and it is where they finally lost.”

Reuters reports, “U.S.-backed Syrian forces were sweeping on Thursday through the final enclave that had been held by Islamic State fighters, and said they would declare the group defeated once a search for hidden mines and jihadist holdouts was complete.”

ISIS was driven out of Iraq in December 2017.

We’d caution against declaring any final victory for the reasons stated above. ISIS may indeed have lost its territory, but its twisted and radical ideology is still alive and not bound by geography. Nevertheless, President Donald Trump has implemented a remarkable turnaround in American national-security policy. Whereas Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton effectively created the Islamic State, Trump — albeit with a rather schizophrenic approach to action in Syria — has worked to bring about its territorial destruction. That’s worth celebrating.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.