Are U.S. State Department Claims That The Air Campaigned Has Killed 10,000 Islamic State Fighters Accurate?

NBC: Is U.S. Claim of 10,000 ISIS Dead Believable?

A top U.S. diplomat strayed from a long-held wartime taboo Wednesday when he reported that 10,000 ISIS militants had been killed in Iraq and Syria, raising questions about how that number was compiled and whether it accurately reflected a U.S.-led coalition's success against the Islamic terror group.

"We have seen a lot of losses within Daesh since the start of this campaign, more than 10,000," Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on France Inter radio, using an alternate name for ISIS. "It will end up having an impact."

Blinken made the remarks as a stand-in for Secretary of State John Kerry at a Paris meeting of coalition members, who are under increasing pressure to step up the nine-month-old airstrike campaign. In recent weeks, ISIS has taken control of several key locations, including the Iraq city of Ramadi.

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WNU Editor: I cringed when I heard that number .... because I have no reason to believe it .... nor will it make a difference in the war at this stage even if it was true. Joshua Keating's commentary on this is spot on .... Body Counts Are Back (Joshua Keating, Slate).