Multiple reports say Kurds have re-taken Mosul Dam from ISIS

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With support from U.S. air power. It's a start, and an important one, for Kurdish forces in Iraq, who apparently have re-taken control of the Mosul Dam with the support of U.S. air power and the Iraqi government. The task was complicated by land mines ISIS planted during the time they were in possession of the dam, but the worst-case scenario that would have seen ISIS destroy the dam and send a gigantic gusher of water into the Tigris River Valley did not happen:

The Islamists' seizure of the Mosul hydroelectric dam in northern Iraq this month marked a stunning setback for Baghdad's Shi'ite-led authorities and raised fears the militants could cut electricity and water, or even blow up the shaky structure, causing huge loss of life and damage down the Tigris river valley. "The failure of the Mosul Dam could threaten the lives of large numbers of civilians, threaten U.S. personnel and facilities - including the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad - and prevent the Iraqi government from providing critical services to the Iraqi populace," a senior U.S. administration official said in Washington. Iraqi officials hailed what they said was a strategic victory in regaining control of the dam, and announced that the next objective would be to win back Mosul itself, the biggest city in northern Iraq which lies 40 km (25 miles) downstream. Hoshiyar Zebari, a top Kurdish official, said Iraqi Kurd forces had captured the dam - blighted by structural problems since it was built by West German engineers for Saddam Hussein in the 1980s - with help from U.S. air strikes nearby. "Taking the dam took longer than expected because Islamic State had planted land mines,” he told Reuters.

Reuters has video of some of the U.S. air strikes, as well as various Iraqis talking about the still-very-real threat ISIS poses, and where the nation goes from here: The most encouraging news here is that it proves ISIS is not some invincible military force. Combine some air power with a determined ground force and clearly ISIS can be beaten back. The fact that they are ruthless and brutal does not mean they are a great army. But the fact remains that they still control an awful lot of Iraq, and all this happened because no one was present to stop their advances, most of which have occurred since January. By the way, do all you "non-interventionists" now see what happens when we leave the building and declare that the rest of the world has to solve its own problems? We eventually find ourselves forced to choose between going back in or sitting back and watching as mass genocide occurs - and strategically important nations fall under the control of maniacs. Stop listening to people like Ron Paul who look at the status of forces agreements we have with more than 100 nations and describe it as "empire." It is no such thing. It is an investment in global peace and security that no other force in the world can be trusted to defend. This is part of who we are as a nation, and when we turn our backs on that, we end up having to deal with rampages by the likes of ISIS. You expect this kind of weakness and disingenuous from Democrats because they've despised the global use of American power (and I mean geopolitical as well as military) ever since Vietnam. Do we really need people who think like this in the Republican Party too? You know, you just mig