Victory over barbarism

Syrian forces have recaptured Palmyra, one of the most important Classical sites in the Middle East, from Dâ'ish (ISIL).  The religious fanatics captured the ancient city in May of last year, since which they have destroyed several irreplaceable relics of the ancient pagan civilization there and murdered Khâled al-As'ad, the curator of the site.  The fate of Palmyra symbolized the clash between the totalitarian monocultural vision of Dâ'ish and the real heritage of the region.

The recapture of the city is an important symbolic and strategic step toward the final defeat of Dâ'ish, over 400 of whose fighters were killed, their highest losses ever in a single battle.  Along with the Iraqi recapture of Ramadi last month, this victory shows that Dâ'ish is clearly losing the war.

Airstrike support, in this case Russian, helped the Syrian army beat the jihadists.  Despite the bloviations of Republicans who seem to get antsy if they go too long without invading something, the present strategy of limiting outside powers to air support, while leaving the ground fighting to the Arab and Kurdish forces who have the most at stake, is the correct one.

Dâ'ish has terrorized and murdered gays, religious minorities, and educated women; destroyed priceless relics of pre-Islamic civilization; fueled the war that is driving millions of refugees into neighboring countries and as far afield as Europe; and recently, lashing out against its looming defeat, committed terrorist mass murders of random civilians.  Every victory over it is a victory over barbarism.