Islamic State is said to have shifted a considerable amount of its military assets from the Syrian theater to Iraq in order to achieve victory in Ramadi. The militant group was able to do so because it faces relatively little resistance in Syria, mostly because other outfits such as the Army of Conquest (which includes Ahrar al-Sham and the al-Nusra Front) have scored a string of victories against al-Assad’s increasingly exhausted and demoralized armed forces.