DOWN BUT NOT OUT: US-led coalition fight against ISIS in Syria, Iraq ‘far from over.’

“There is still a lot of work to be done both militarily and on civilian stabilization efforts in both countries,” said Col. Sean Ryan, a spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led coalition fight against ISIS. “Make no mistake — the coalition is not talking victory or taking our foot off the gas in working with our partners.”

Ryan said that partner forces are working to stabilize areas in Iraq and Syria where ISIS has been driven out, including rebuilding detention centers and training new guards. In some areas like Manbij in northern Syria, electricity is being restored and some children are going to school for the first time in five years, he said.

In other areas, the fighting continues. In eastern Syria, the coalition-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are preparing for an assault on the ISIS stronghold of Hajin, a Euphrates River Valley town.

There, he said, the SDF has set up checkpoints to vet fleeing civilians and weed out ISIS fighters trying to escape. Some have been captured, he said.

It’s certainly no time to go all wobbly, but the ISIS threat might have been eliminated already with the initial American response hadn’t been to ignore it, and then dismiss them as the “jayvee.”