ANALYSIS/OPINION:

With Russian and Syria focus on Aleppo over the last few weeks, the fight to retake Mosul from the Islamic State has foundered. Obviously Russia now controls the tempo and the agenda in the Middle East, exposing the Obama administration’s efforts against the terrorist state as weak and ineffective.

Obama’s heart just never was really in the fight against ISIS. You can draw your own conclusions as to why.

However, U.S. Air Force pilots during Christmas Day strikes seem to have their sense of humor as several wore Santa Claus hats during bombing runs against ISIS in the Mosul region, some 18 missions flown on Dec. 25.

All aircraft returned to base safely.

The Air Force shared photos of the Santa deliveries and were picked up by the air-warfare monitoring group AirWars, reported Business Insider on Dec. 27.

The Iraqi Army has retaken about a quarter of the city of Mosul in months of fighting.

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