How Is The Air War Against The Islamic State Going?

While airstrikes in Iraq have increased substantially in the past year, they have slightly decreased in Syria. CENTCOM

Cameron Glenn, Newsweek: How Is the Air War Against ISIS Going?

The difference in the two fronts is reflected in strikes on the two ISIS strongholds. The coalition hit Raqqa—a backwater city that is the nominal capital of its pseudo-caliphate in Syria—less than 60 times this year, or only 8 percent of the total airstrikes in Syria. The coalition hit areas in and around Mosul—a commercial center in Iraq at least 10 times larger than Raqqa—almost 500 times, or a quarter of all strikes in Iraq this year.

After some 12,000 airstrikes over the past 21 months, costing $7 billion, Operation Inherent Resolve has had an impact in aiding local forces who have fought ISIS on the ground. But their progress in Iraq and Syria has varied.

Due to a wide range of local and international efforts against ISIS, the group has lost 40 percent of its territory in Iraq, and only 11 percent of its turf in Syria.

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Previous Post: U.S. Claims Its Air Strikes Are Hitting More Significant Islamic State Targets (May 26, 2016).

WNU Editor: I am not sure on how the air war against the Islamic State is going .... but I do know that many of the original coalition members have left and/or curtailed their activities .... even though the Islamic State is still there. I also know that the coalition against the Islamic State is still far away from mounting a ground campaign to defeat them .... focusing instead on smaller targets like Fallujah in Iraq and/or the outskirts of Raqqa in Syria. I also know that the U.S. is running out of bombs .... The US is Raiding its Global Bomb Stockpiles to Fight ISIS (Defense One) .... which is never a good thing when you fighting a war.