This factual article identifies the reality of having ACCESS! If the Islamic State loses Mosul, the group has a clearly articulated contingency plan, a strategy it has frequently broadcast on multiple platforms for the past five months: inhiyaz, or temporary retreat, into the desert. T erritorial losses did not mean defeat, to them, in the past, because militants would fight until the end and then retreat to the desert, preparing for a comeback, just as they did between 2007 and 2013. Various Islamic State outlets picked up the theme. While most militants retreated, according to the article, dozens of operatives remained to foment a terror campaign. The article explains — rightly — that the jihadists’ six-year campaign depleted and fragmented Iraqi Sunni groups, making it easier for the Islamic State to control the Sunni heartlands when it returned in 2013."
At www.nytimes.com
