there is a slightly overlooked point regarding the ISIS-backed takeover of Mosul..
the US coalition occupation of Iraq maintained around 150,000 troops on the ground. ISIS is estimated to have approximately 10,000 (not all of whom participated in the capture of Mosul, of course).
Now, forget the fact that ISIS was losing 20 to 30 fighters on a daily basis at the beginning of this year, and what that indicates about the somewhat mysterious process by which the group can suddenly produce new battalions of recruits…my real point isn’t about ISIS.
Consider the extent to which Iraq has been militarily degraded to the point that a ground force of a few thousand (with not air support), can seize an entire vital province. What if it wasn’t ISIS, but Israel? And isn’t the same degradation of military capability currently in the works for Syria?
Isn’t it a concern that we are fighting to create an Islamic state that we will be completely incapable of defending because our armed forces have been devastated by internal fighting, and replaced by brothers with RPGs?