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Article snippet: TABQA, Syria — The young man unburdened himself about the dark years of living under the Islamic State as a crowd of curious onlookers gathered in front of a weathered storefront in the town marketplace. The militants, said the man, a 22-year-old named Abdul Qadir Khalil, killed many residents, doled out precious jobs and severely limited travel to and from the city. “When they left, our situation was much better mentally,” Mr. Khalil said. “If things were fixed, our society would be better and we would come to our normal life.” He ticked off a list of the things Tabqa needs: electricity, water, fuel and a sizable bakery. Then, laughing about his new freedom to openly denounce the militants, he said, “If they ever come back, they will slaughter all of us.” Life is slowly returning to the streets of Tabqa, a city of about 100,000 strategically positioned just 30 miles west of Raqqa, the capital of the self-proclaimed caliphate of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Women are well represented on the town’s new governing council, and small children greet visitors with a “V” sign for victory. But nearly two months after the Islamic State was driven off by the American-led coalition fighting the militants, the needs are even more vast than Mr. Khalil suggested, with no functioning hospitals or schools, not even the heavy equipment needed to uncover the dead. In that respect, Tabqa stands as a laboratory for testing the Trump administration’s policy of empowering co... Link to the full article to read more