Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Ronan Farrow Daily,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) disputed President Barack Obama’s SOTU claim that the United States has stopped the advance of ISIS in Syria.
Schiff said, “I think it’s fair to say in Iraq we’ve stopped the advance of ISIS. We have, in fact, worked with the Kurds to roll back some of ISIS’ earlier gains. We have a much more favorable government in Baghdad that can work to amend some of the sectarian divides. So we have a partner in Iraq. We have made progress in halting momentum of ISIS in Iraq. But you’re right. The same cannot be said of Syria. ISIS, I think, has gained ground in parts of Syria. Yes, they’ve been held off in Kobani. That’s a battle of largely symbolic importance, but it’s certainly true that that was on the precipice of falling and that has been arrested. In other parts of Syria, ISIS has expanded its territory. Perhaps equally disturbing, al Qaeda’s franchise, al-Nusra, has very significantly expanded its holdings in Syria. It’s true we’ve put together a broad coalition, and that wasn’t easy and that’s positive, but I don’t think we can say we’ve halted the growth of the extremists’ territory in Syria.”
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