US-led coalition spokesman Col Ryan Dillon announced on Tuesday that the current coalition estimate is that there are less than 3,000 ISIS left total in Iraq and Syria, by far the smallest estimate in years.
US estimates on ISIS force levels have never been great, usually hovering around the 20,000-30,000 level during the course of the ISIS war, but many times claimed to have killed more fighters than ISIS was believed to have, and the estimated levels never went down, until now.
With under 3,000 ISIS left, the justification for US deployments in Iraq and Syria are getting flimsier, though officials were quick to insist that US troops are staying irrespective of whether ISIS remains active or not.
US officials have long said troops inside Iraq would remin, and more recently have also said they have no intention of removing their troops from Syria any time soon, despite there not being any Syrian government permission to stay.
They would know. They are supporting them.
And remember when Johnson and McNamara said we were winning, thousands were being killed, etc? Remember when Bush spoke under the infamous “Mission Accomplished” banner in the early days of our never-ending war?? Remember when governments told the truth??? Yeah, me neither.