US Participation: How Iraqi Government Forces managed to reclaim strategic territories from ISIS
The two main reasons behind the recent progress made by the Iraqi government’s armed forces in its war against ISIS are, first, direct U.S. military ground support for operations to wrest the town of Baiji, and second, the increased Iranian support aimed at balancing US intervention. However, this does not mean that it is possible to completely destroy ISIS in the short run, a goal that requires a real political process involving Sunni Iraqis in order to weaken ISIS’ social bases in the Sunni-majority areas.
