News that a U.S. airstrike may have killed the most recognizable, if covered, face of the Islamic State in the heart of its stronghold in Syria says it all: the Obama administration, with the help of select Kurdish fighters, is taking the fight to ISIS, right in its own backyard. After months of withering criticism, the president announced last month that he was sending 50 military advisers to the region to bolster its air campaign. According to Secretary of State John Kerry more than 8,000 airstrikes have been carried out at IS targets over the past year, and it’s paying off. The Islamic State has been forced from 20 to 25% of territory it controlled a year ago, Kerry said. If the death of Mohammed Emwazi, the British knife-wielding masked man who has starred in IS videos of beheadings is confirmed, it will go a long way towards convincing the world that the United States isn’t prevaricating about Syria anymore.