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Military Implications of the Syrian Regime's Defeat in Raqqa
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Jeffrey White - Over the past two months, jihadist fighters from the Islamic State have waged an increasingly successful campaign against Assad regime forces in Syria's northern Raqqa province, culminating in the capture of al-Tabqa Airfield on Aug. 24. This stands as the most significant defeat of regime forces since the beginning of the rebellion. Full control of Raqqa helps the group secure the heartland of its "caliphate," and serves as a base for potential follow-on operations and the fall of a second province - Deir al-Zour - where Assad's forces are largely isolated around the airfield near the provincial capital. The regime failure in Raqqa raises the question of who will stop IS in Syria. The writer, a defense fellow at The Washington Institute, is a former senior defense intelligence officer.