geographically, it s the biggest town, the most important one on the road from amman, jordan, down to baghdad, but more important, it s the center of a very high concentration of sunnis. almost everybody in that town, a large majority, are sunnis and so holding on to it is very, very important for isis. if they lose control, then it s an enormous, an enormous victory for the government and a big loss for isis. colonel, the ground battle against isis has been heavily supported by u.s.-led air strikes. is this really enough? yeah, it is. at least partially, because we rely so heavily on air strikes and air strikes alone can t do anything, as everybody knows. whoever s fought on the ground. so our focus in providing air cover for troops on the ground only goes is only useful, insofar as the troops on the ground are skilled and can seize