Euphrates

Crossing the Euphrates, Darah Qawzak bridge. Every inch of Syria returning to Syria. This area that we drove through had, at one time, been under control of ISIS.

As I predicted a few days ago, the rapidly deteriorating situation in Syria has prompted an urgent telephone call between Russian President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan.
The Kremlin’s summary of the call does not make clear who initiated the call.  However most likely it was the Russian leader.

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Al Assad meets with Putin in Sochi, Russia on Tuesday November 21, 2017 [PPIO]
Russian President Vladimir Putin will call his American counterpart after Syrian President Bashar Al Assad concludes his trip to the Russian port city of Sochi.
“Already a talk is planned with the emir of Qatar and tomorrow—with the President of the U.S. Donald Trump, while afterwards (I will speak) with leaders from countries in the region,” a statement from the Kremlin quoted Putin on Tuesday.

The Syrian army said its soldiers have surrounded Islamic State elements in Deir e Zor along the eastern border with Iraq [Xinhua]
The Russian military says that the Islamic State in Syria has been nearly routed even as the Syrian Arab Army announces that it has retaken yet more territory from the extremist group.
On Tuesday the Syrian Army’s 4th Mechanized Division said it had liberated east Hama city and destroyed the Islamic State’s largest training facility there.

21st Century Wire says…
The evidence is mounting, that the US power-multiplied Kurdish factions are colluding with ISIS, as the Syrian Arab Army crosses the Euphrates and threatens to bring an end to international terrorism inside Syria once and for all. It is not the first time that this possibility has been demonstrated by the Kurds’ military strategy on Syrian soil. 

The Euphrates River remains not only a vital lifeline across much of eastern Syria but also an important boundary area, which has become increasingly more important throughout the Syrian War.
Early in the war, Turkey warned they would not let any Kurds cross to the west of the Euphrates, and that this amounted to a “red line.”

(MEE) Russia on Monday said it would track as “targets” any US-led coalition planes operating west of the Euphrates river in Syria, and condemned the shooting down of a Syrian government plane by US forces.

Since January  the tide has turned dramatically against ISIS on almost every front
1.  Mosul
The Iraqi army began its operation to liberate Mosul in October.  Contrary to initial expectations it encountered fierce resistance and the first part of the operation, which was focused on liberating Mosul east of the Tigris proved exceptionally difficult.  Eventually eastern Mosul was liberated but only after many weeks of fierce fighting and after the Iraqi army suffered heavy casualties.

(ANTIWAR) After capturing the Syrian city of al-Bab from ISIS, Turkish officials made it clear that the next military target was the city of Manbij, along the Euphrates River. Manbij was captured last year from ISIS by the Kurdish YPG, with considerable US military support.