(Washington Post) Liz Sly - The Islamic State appears to be starting to fray from within, as dissent, defections and setbacks on the battlefield sap the group's strength and erode its aura of invincibility. Reports of rising tensions between foreign and local fighters, increasingly unsuccessful attempts to recruit local citizens for the front lines, and a growing incidence of guerrilla attacks against Islamic State targets suggest the militants are struggling to sustain their carefully cultivated image. "We're seeing basically a failure of the central tenet of ISIS ideology, which is to unify people of different origins under the caliphate," said Lina Khatib, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "This is not working on the ground. It is making them less effective in governing and less effective in military operations."
2015-03-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive