Who Defeated Islamic State ?

[Gromit]

IS is defeated and the Califate finished. I am sure everyone is pleased by that news. But who actually defeated them?

All the headlines report the victors as ‘US Backed Rebels”.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-47678157

Which rather conveniently diguises the fact that they were defeated by The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), mostly Kurdish fighters. The deception is necessary because Turkey our NATO chum regards them as terrorists, and the US and UK have proscibed the Kurdish PKK as a terrorist group.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/world/middleeast/turkey-kurds-syria.html

The Kurdish fighters have done us all a great service by defeating ISIS on the ground. Should we at least give them proper credit rather than hiding their identity ?

[spathiphyllum]

you'd have thought the "end to the islamic state" would have made bigger news and more people would be talking about it.

Maybe it's all a load of BS

[ichkeria]

I don’t see where either of those articles (or what little I can see of the NYT one) underplays the role of the Kurds.
The “US backed rebels” happened to be the ones who were there at the “end” so naturally it was they who made the declaration as reported. And indeed filmed.

[ichkeria]

That’s quite funny Tora :-)

[naomi24]

They haven't been defeated.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-47691006