Battle for Mosul (key stronghold of ISIS)

[mark_twain]

News is brewing that a strike on Mosul by the coalition is gearing up now. Airstrikes have already begun in preparation for the strike.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/16/middleeast/mosul-isis-battle-preparations/index.html

Perhaps this will be another "feather in the cap" for Clinton, to mention at the third debate?

[ApatheticAustrian]

it was guessed before, that this would be obama's october surprise...crushing the capital of IS in iraq and its one major city. (raqqa and the rest of the syria strongholds are tiny by comparison)

[mark_twain]

Trump will almost certainly say that Obama and Clinton "created ISIS", or "left a vacuum and let ISIS form".

Depending on the exact progress of the strike on Mosul, Clinton can counter that argument by saying that significant gains have been made against ISIS, in order to validate the strategy taken by the Obama administration.

Even though she is not technically part of the Obama administration now, she was part of it a few years ago and is still closely allied with the administration, so it will be good for her.

[Rand]

Why didn't Obama do this sooner? Did he allow ISIS to spread just to conveniently knock them out right before Election Day to score political points for Hillary, the co-founder of this global terrorist organization? Will the airstrikes even be real? Is Pixar helping the MSM generate CGI airstrikes on Mosul? What role does Alec Baldwin play in this? Very suspicious.

[ApatheticAustrian]

Why didn't Obama do this sooner?

the US is mostly not doing it themselves and the allies needed to invade villages, secure positions, prepare themselves....otherwise this is going to be a bloodbath.

[Lyin' Steve]

Well, all of these bad leaders from ISIS are leaving Mosul. Why can’t they do it quietly? Why can’t they do the attack, make it a sneak attack, and after the attack is made, inform the American public that we’ve knocked out the leaders, we’ve had a tremendous success? People leave. Why do they have to say we’re going to be attacking Mosul within the next four to six weeks, which is what they’re saying? How stupid is our country?  General George Patton, General Douglas MacArthur are spinning in their grave at the stupidity of what we’re doing in the Middle East.

[Gustaf]

Well, all of these bad leaders from ISIS are leaving Mosul. Why can’t they do it quietly? Why can’t they do the attack, make it a sneak attack, and after the attack is made, inform the American public that we’ve knocked out the leaders, we’ve had a tremendous success? People leave. Why do they have to say we’re going to be attacking Mosul within the next four to six weeks, which is what they’re saying? How stupid is our country?  General George Patton, General Douglas MacArthur are spinning in their grave at the stupidity of what we’re doing in the Middle East.

I always thought it was funny that Trump keep talking up MacArthur, as the dude was fired for trying to start a nuclear war and turning the US into a military dictatorship. Well, ok, when you put it that way it actually makes a lot of sense.

[ApatheticAustrian]

this is not hollywood.....and the IS has no realy army of its own and doesn't really do classic warfare.

btw a fine example how obama does war:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/world/africa/obama-somalia-secret-war.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

[Lyin' Steve]

Well, all of these bad leaders from ISIS are leaving Mosul. Why can’t they do it quietly? Why can’t they do the attack, make it a sneak attack, and after the attack is made, inform the American public that we’ve knocked out the leaders, we’ve had a tremendous success? People leave. Why do they have to say we’re going to be attacking Mosul within the next four to six weeks, which is what they’re saying? How stupid is our country?  General George Patton, General Douglas MacArthur are spinning in their grave at the stupidity of what we’re doing in the Middle East.

I always thought it was funny that Trump keep talking up MacArthur, as the dude was fired for trying to start a nuclear war and turning the US into a military dictatorship. Well, ok, when you put it that way it actually makes a lot of sense.

It's just such a stupid point to make and he feels the need to make it over and over and over.

ISIS isn't going to be surprised that we're attacking Mosul.

[PresidentSamTilden]

This has the potential to ugly. Urban combat in major cities in highly perilous. Look up the battle of Grozny between the Russians and Chechens in 1996 as an example.

I hope the Iraqi forces and militias are unified and ready for a tough fight. I wouldn't count this as a feather in anyone's cap just yet.

[Lyin' Steve]

Historical fact for fellow Christians on here:  Mosul is built on top of Nineveh, the city Jonah was supposed to go save, which he refused to do until he was swallowed by the whale.  His tomb used to be one of the major historical sites in the city, but ISIS blew it up in 2014 because it had become "a place of apostasy, not of worship."  Sorry Jonah.

It's funny how few people realize that all those old locations and cities talked about in the Bible, most of them were in this area of the world that's currently being controlled by ISIS.  If you remember Antioch, that's still around; it's now Antakya, the southernmost city in Turkey.

Hey, the U.S. destroyed 3000-year-old artifacts in what little remains of Babylon to build a parking lot and helipad when we took over Iraq.

There's also this beautiful mosque in Mosul, really hope this survives the fighting:



That said it won't be a great historical loss if it's blown up since it was already rebuilt in the 40s.

[Green Line]

Isis scum. 

[Gass3268]

Iraqi Prime Minister: Pivotal Offensive On Mosul Has Begun

[Green Line]

I don't have much faith in the Iraqi Army.  This should be interesting.

[ApatheticAustrian]

you should have faith in the military discipline of either the peshmerga or the iranians.....and the shiites have seen the darkness.

[Gass3268]

I don't have much faith in the Iraqi Army.  This should be interesting.

I feel like they have gotten better over the past couple years and the Kurds have always been decent.

[rafta_rafta]

I hope they take Raqqa before election day. Could be a great talking point for HRC and Obama

[ApatheticAustrian]

not very realistic, in regard of raqqa...too much fighting going on in other places in syria.

[mark_twain]

I don't have much faith in the Iraqi Army.  This should be interesting.

I feel like they have gotten better over the past couple years and the Kurds have always been decent.

Ample support from the airstrikes and lots of battle experience over 2 years should have helped those soldiers with the learning curve, I think.


Here is a live map of ISIS:

http://isis.liveuamap.com/

Mosul is the city somewhat NW of Kirkuk. It appears that coalition forces have surrounded the city on 3 sides (the Iraqis from the south, and the Kurds from the north and east), giving them the advantage over ISIS.

[Ebsy]

Mosul will almost certainly be retaken. The actual questions are how soon and how costly will victory be.

[mark_twain]

Looks like the progress of the strike is looking good so far:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/17/middleeast/mosul-isis-operation-begins-iraq/index.html


A good first day of fighting should lift the spirits of the coalition forces going forward...

[‼realJohnEwards‼]

Looks like ISIS are abandoning posts. Things look good so far...

[mark_twain]

Lots of cool weapons at work here:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/17/middleeast/mosul-peshmerga-isis-firefight-nick-paton-walsh/index.html


ISIS is fighting back with suicide attacks, as usual.

Looks like the Iraqi army and Peshmerga need to fight through some territory outside of the city first...

[Likely Voter]

One impact of this is it will likely come up in the debate and it will be interesting if there is a detailed question on the strategy and the coalition. Trump may be able to bluff his way through but I doubt he knows Peshmerga from Pierogi.  The situation in Yemen and the US Navy may also come up. Again another complex situation that may be hard to bluff through.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

One impact of this is it will likely come up in the debate and it will be interesting if there is a detailed question on the strategy and the coalition. Trump may be able to bluff his way through but I doubt he knows Peshmerga from Pierogi.  The situation in Yemen and the US Navy may also come up. Again another complex situation that may be hard to bluff through.

He won't even bluff. Twenty seconds on topic and then attacks on other subjects. What will destroy him is if Hillary and the mods hold thr fire on him. I have no doubt Sniffy can go to to great lengths to avoid looking stupid, even if it makes him look ten times more stupid.