Always interesting to me that the " nothing can be done crowd " tends to overestimate the power and commitment of our adversaries ...such as ISIS or "Daesh" as they like to be called. Case in point ..The previous administration's attempts to slowly attrite the Caliphate forces thru limited diplomacy on the world stage , ringing speeches on the inherent beauty of Islam and the occasional drone strike. General Mattis has an entirely different approach and way of thinking ....within a few days of his confirmation as Secretary of Defense , he ordered the deployment of eight (8) tubes of 155 mm artillery to a lonely hilltop about 14 miles from downtown Raqqa , the scared and holy capital of the Islamic State ...The US Marines there literally need everything from band aids to bullets flown in daily ...and critics immediately declared this to be a major military blunder ...except that every inch of Raqqa is now " under-the-gun" as they say in poker ...Their Holy Warrior leaders " beat feet "