Is the Islamic State Hurting? The President’s Point Man on ISIS Speaks Out

For the first time since its blitz across Syria and Iraq, in 2014, the Islamic State is on the defensive in both countries. Its caliphate, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is shrinking. Its numbers are down. It hasn’t launched a new offensive since May, 2015. The new U.S. Expeditionary Targeting Force in Iraq—led by some fifty Delta Force commandos—has scored the first capture of a key ISIS operative, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The Iraqi military, meanwhile, is tightening the noose around Mosul, an ISIS stronghold and the country’s second-largest city. In Syria, a fragile new ceasefire, which took hold last weekend between the government and the rebel opposition, has turned attention on the Islamic State.