A brief update as to the size of ISIS and their war in Iraq.

Forget about that "10,000" number being used to described the size of the ISIS forces for the past two months.    Al Jazeera ia reporting that ISIS has 50,000 fighters in Syria and another 30,000 in Iraq.  The IS added 6,000 to its ranks just last month,  its appeal to the jihad minded,  Islamic world,  having an influence and bearing fruit,  as they say,  in their effort to establish a jihadist state in Iraq.  

Tuesday,  it was reported that the ISIS leader,  Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a bomb attack on his vehicle,  but I cannot find any sources confirming this [Fox] report.  

Also,  reports from Tuesday confirm that an American journalist,  kidnapped and held in Syria,  since 2012,  has been beheaded.  His name is James Foley.  There was a video of the incident.  IS holds another journalist and one aid worker,  as well.  That journalist appeared in the same video recording the death of Foley,  with the journalist telling Obama,  "This will happen again."  The masked man who did the beheading spoke perfect English,  with a British accent,  telling military obervers that he has a passport and is a foreign fighter.  

There is some good news,  to report, however.  The nation's largest dam,  in or near Mosul in the north,  has been retaken by Iraqi/Kurdish forces.  Apparently the dam has been charged with explosives,  but is secure at the time of this report.  It was feared that IS would destroy the facility,  sending 16 feet of water south,  into Baghdad,  and trapping American forces,  keeping them (including more than 2,000 embassy staff) from being flown out of the country,  should that become necessary,  if that decision has not yet been made.  
____________

Sources:  all facts come from military personnel interviewed on Fox,  in two interviews,  and the Muslim news source, Al Jazeera.