GEE, A TERROR REGIME SEEMED LIKE A SURE WINNER...:

Is the Islamic State, the jihadi group that's become notorious for beheading and enslaving captives, in trouble? Recent news - from the murder of a Japanese hostage to reports that the group has been mostly driven out of the Syrian border city of Kobane - point in that direction.

The IS siege of Kobane began four months ago, putting to work a lot of the heavy weaponry IS fighters seized when the Iraqi military collapsed in the north of that country over the summer. The ethnic-Kurdish town ultimately drew military support from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish enclave and a coalition of international powers led by the United States. The coalition conducted dozens of airstrikes around the city, coordinating its efforts with its defenders, in an attempt to drive back the militants.

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