FOX News: Pentagon: Only 5 percent of ISIS territory in Iraq recaptured in past 5 months
Despite pledges from the Obama administration to “accelerate” the war against the Islamic State and a top envoy claiming “this perverse caliphate is shrinking," the Pentagon admitted Monday it had retaken only 5 percent of ISIS-held territory in Iraq in the past five months.
President Obama announced at the Pentagon in December that 40 percent of ISIS-held territory in Iraq had been recaptured by Iraqi security forces backed by thousands of airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition, a number officials repeated for five months.
But on Monday, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said 45 percent of ISIS territory had been taken back in Iraq, or a modest 5 percentage-point gain from December.
Cook said 16-20 percent of ISIS-held territory had been taken from ISIS in Syria, a similar estimate given in January.
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WNU Editor: I guess they are referring to the recapture of Ramadi .... a city that was once home to hundreds for thousands of Iraqis .... now reduced to complete rubble. If this is forward progress .... I hate to know what a setback looks like.
Update: Some are quoting a different percentage .... ISIS loses 45 percent of territory in Iraq, 20 percent in Syria (USA Today).