WASHINGTON — In a campaign that spanned five years and two U.S. presidencies, unleashed more than 100,000 bombs and killed untold numbers of civilians, the U.S. military engineered the destruction of ISIL’s self-proclaimed empire in Iraq and Syria. President Donald Trump on Wednesday flashed a colour-coded map to illustrate what he called the imminent demise of ISIL in its last speck of Syrian territory. At its peak, in 2014-15, it controlled an area the size of Britain across Syria and Iraq and launched a series of extremist attacks around the world. The Syria campaign also began slowly and was marked by startling setbacks. Despite new complications on the battlefield, such as Russia’s entry into the conflict, the campaign methodically recaptured ISIL territory and cut off the extremists’ lifelines.

Source: National Post March 21, 2019 16:07 UTC