This Seems Like Progress

Islamic State suffers double blow as Ramadi falls, leaders killed https://t.co/sd9KQjHJdc pic.twitter.com/DX1fj1UYtV

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) December 30, 2015

So amidst the horse-race stuff having to do with the 2016 primaries (you know, like Gov. George Pataki leaving the GOP race, which doesn't quite merit its own post), it might be neat to take a look at what is actually happening outside the US--and look! Just like Daesh has been losing territory in 2015 because of the coalition against them, it appears they have just been dealt a couple big set-backs:

U.S.-led forces have killed 10 Islamic State leaders in air strikes, including individuals linked to the Paris attacks, a U.S. spokesman said, dealing a double blow to the militant group after Iraqi forces ousted it from the city of Ramadi.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi planted the national flag in Ramadi after the army retook the city centre from Islamic State, a victory that could help vindicate his strategy for rebuilding the military after stunning defeats.

"Over the past month, we've killed 10 ISIL leadership figures with targeted air strikes, including several external attack planners, some of whom are linked to the Paris attacks," said U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren, a spokesman for the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamist group also known by the acronym ISIL.

In other news, 25K lbs of uranium has been shipped out of Iran and is heading for Russia as part of that deal thing that most of the 2016 GOP candidates for president have said they would scrap at once on getting into the White House. Which would leave us with no effective plan of stopping an Iranian nuke program--which strikes me as making things worse. 

I'm not sure why they want things to be worse, but it's their campaigns.