"The Battle for Mosul" Topic

"The battle for Mosul is pending. It is likely to start later than its October deadline, however, take longer to fight than anticipated, and will likely result in the destruction of much of the city. Even if the campaign is ultimately successful, it will not bring an end to the violence that has plagued Iraq; it will simply open a new chapter in the continuing sectarian violence and political instability that plagues it.

Moreover, regardless of its outcome, it will prove to be a far-reaching human tragedy for hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants. Baghdad does not have the billions that will be required for its reconstruction nor is it prepared to deal with the onslaught of refugees that the fighting will create

The campaign itself will be hard fought against a tenacious enemy that will unleash even more new battlefield horrors and will be hampered by political divisions and sectarian conflicts and by the absence of a unified command structure…"
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Amicalement
Armand

I keep hearing that.

Call me when it's started.

Nothing like telegraphing war plans to the enemy. Brilliant strategy there.

I'll believe it when I see it …

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Pentagon Expects ISIS To Use Chemical Weapons When The Battle For Mosul Begins

"Islamic State militants are "dead set" on using chemical arms and are likely to try them again as Iraqi forces advance on Mosul, a Pentagon spokesman said on Monday, a week after a rocket with a possible chemical agent landed near U.S. troops.

The rocket fired Tuesday landed in an unpopulated area near Qayyara West base, several hundred yards from where hundreds of U.S. troops are working to prepare an airfield for an Iraqi offensive to recapture the city of Mosul. No one was hurt in the attack.

The shell initially tested positive for a mustard agent, but two subsequent tests have been inconclusive and the device is undergoing further tests, Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters…"
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Amicalement
Armand

No surprise there either … as I said on other threads. If Daesh or even UBL had nucs … they'd use them. As we may see sooner than later with Iran.

The Battle for Mosul: 3 maps explaining the planned offensive against the Isis stronghold in Iraq

"Iraqi army units will push towards Mosul from the south while the Kurds wait in the wings

As Islamic State (Isis) fortifies the outskirts of Mosul with oil-filled trenches, barricades and blast walls, the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces surrounding the city are preparing for a bloody battle to liberate Iraq's second biggest city from the jihadis. After two years of brutal IS rule in Mosul, Baghdad is poised to take the city back with intelligence sources confirming to IBTimes UK on Monday (26 September) that the troops would move in before early October…"

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Amicalement
Armand

IS Plans Widespread Destruction in Mosul as Conditions Worsen for Residents

"Kurdish officials say Islamic State militants are planning to meet a liberation offensive in Mosul with mass killings and widespread destruction of the historic Iraqi city.

IS fighters have been instructed to wreak as much destruction as they can, if they're unable to hold the city against Iraqi troops and Kurdish peshmerga militiamen, according to Saeed Mamuzini, an official with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Iraqi Kurdistan's ruling party.

In an interview in Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, with Rudaw television, Mamuzini said the terror group has been preparing for the long-anticipated offensive on Mosul, which could start possibly this month. Mosul is the last major stronghold of the terror group in the country.

"IS is prepared to fight and they have new tactics of war. For example, they have built tunnels inside Mosul," he said…"
From here
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Amicalement
Armand