Yes, al-Qaeda is still on the path to defeat.
Via LWJ:
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, has taken control of large sections of two western Iraqi cities that were once bastions for the terror group.
ISIS fighters entered the cities of Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, and Fallujah after the Iraqi military withdraw from the cities following clashes with tribes over a political standoff that resulted in the arrest of a Sunni member of parliament.
The ISIS posted videos of its fighters entering the cities in force after clashing with Iraqi police and overrunning several checkpoints. In Ramadi, a large convoy of ISIS fighters driving technicals, or pickup trucks with heavy machine guns mounted on the back, is seen moving through the city. The fighters are flying al Qaeda’s black banner while singing praises to al Qaeda and its “Islamic state.”
Iraqi officials from the interior ministry acknowledged that parts of Fallujah and Ramadi are under al Qaeda control.
“Half of Fallujah is in the hands of ISIS (the Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham) group,” an anonymous interior ministry official told AFP.
“In Ramadi, it is similar – some areas are controlled by ISIS,” the official continued. The other parts of the city are control by “tribesmen,” likely a reference to the Sahwa or Awakening, the tribal militia that ejected al Qaeda from control of large areas of Anbar with US backing between 2006 and 2009.
In Fallujah, ISIS fighters stormed the main police headquarters, freed more than 100 prisoners, and seized weapons and ammunition. “Other police stations in the city were torched by fighters as most police abandoned their posts,” Al Jazeera reported.