Syria Deeply quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on the effect that the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham has had on moderate rebels in Syria:
In your view, what have the U.S.-led strikes on ISIS achieved so far? What have they targeted and hit that makes a material difference to the group?
* Itani : The main achievements have been hurting their economic infrastructure, forcing them them to shift from a high-profile governance mode to a much more subtle, dispersed underground mode, and it’s complicated their attempts to launch large-scale offensives to expand their geographic scope of control. These are not insignificant achievements, but they aren’t game-changing either.