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?

[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.

[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.

[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...

[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...

[mark_twain]

The time required to retake Mosul is estimated to be 2 months...

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/18/middleeast/mosul-isis-operation-iraq/


The time to enter the city is estimated to be 2 weeks.

Looks like Obama and Clinton won't be getting a boost of approval in time for the election, but at least they can now say that we're making significant progress...

[mark_twain]

Remind me again how beating back an Islamist insurgency eight years into his term is somehow a "feather in the cap" of Obama (or Clinton for that matter)?

Here's the score for you...

George W. Bush spent 7 years trying to find Osama bin Laden and failed.

Obama took less than 3 years and succeeded. He should at least get allowance for 8 years to defeat ISIS, using Bush's time as a yardstick. After 4 years of a second term, he is almost there.

If Obama guides the coalition in retaking Mosul before his term ends, I would call that an overall success worthy of credit--if we compare it to Bush's progress with Al Qaeda, even though it pales in comparison with his lightning-fast speed in getting Osama bin Laden. His progress is even more remarkable considering that ISIS did not come into prominence until 2014, or less than 3 years ago.

[mark_twain]

This battle is being livestreamed...how insane is that? I'm not some ideological purist, we all love our vicarious violence. But at the same time, turning war into entertainment for the sheltered western masses is kinda messed up.

If ISIS somehow rebounded and took Baghdad, would the massacre be streamed? Would you watch? What a time to be alive...the critical mass of humanity.

Televised battles go back all the way to World War II, where the famous D-Day was filmed on the news.

[mark_twain]

Remind me again how beating back an Islamist insurgency eight years into his term is somehow a "feather in the cap" of Obama (or Clinton for that matter)?

Here's the score for you...

George W. Bush spent 7 years trying to find Osama bin Laden and failed.

Obama took less than 3 years and succeeded. He should at least get allowance for 8 years to defeat ISIS, using Bush's time as a yardstick. After 4 years of a second term, he is almost there.

His progress is even more remarkable considering that ISIS did not come into prominence until 2014, or less than 3 years ago.

If Obama guides the coalition in retaking Mosul before his term ends, I would call that an overall success worthy of credit, even though it pales in comparison with his lightning-fast speed in getting Osama bin Laden.

Oh pleAse, give me a break.  Obama had nothing to do with the capture of Bin Laden aside from not standing in the way of the military once they found him.  Gee, Im glad Obama didnt PREVENT his capture, but he hardly deserves credit.

The military leadership presented the options, but it was Obama's team that made the final decision.

Timing is critical, and without Obama's guidance, a golden opportunity could have been missed.

[mark_twain]

Remind me again how beating back an Islamist insurgency eight years into his term is somehow a "feather in the cap" of Obama (or Clinton for that matter)?

Here's the score for you...

George W. Bush spent 7 years trying to find Osama bin Laden and failed.

Obama took less than 3 years and succeeded. He should at least get allowance for 8 years to defeat ISIS, using Bush's time as a yardstick. After 4 years of a second term, he is almost there.

His progress is even more remarkable considering that ISIS did not come into prominence until 2014, or less than 3 years ago.

If Obama guides the coalition in retaking Mosul before his term ends, I would call that an overall success worthy of credit, even though it pales in comparison with his lightning-fast speed in getting Osama bin Laden.

Oh pleAse, give me a break.  Obama had nothing to do with the capture of Bin Laden aside from not standing in the way of the military once they found him.  Gee, Im glad Obama didnt PREVENT his capture, but he hardly deserves credit.

The military leadership presented the options, but it was Obama's team that made the final decision.

Timing is critical, and without Obama's guidance, a golden opportunity could have been missed.

What did he do aside from give the go ahead?

Top secret, my friend.

I'm afraid you won't be able to know the answer in this lifetime.

But for a simplified answer, I'm sure he was involved in the planning of the operation to a significant degree, as was the rest of his inner circle.

[mark_twain]

The strike on Mosul is moving ahead of schedule now:

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2016/10/20/iraq-mosul-operation-ward-lkl.cnn


Maybe they can finish the attack in less than 2 months!

[mark_twain]

Almost at the city now...

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/23/middleeast/mosul-iraq/index.html

https://isis.liveuamap.com/

[mark_twain]

Reports now say that the coalition is inflicting heavy losses on ISIS now!


http://isis.liveuamap.com/

The grey frown face in the live map stands for enemy soldier deaths, which are around 800 to 900 now.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/26/world/will-isis-leaders-escape-mosul-bergen/?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool

The CNN story says that ISIS forces are now decimated...

[mark_twain]

Troops are about to enter the city:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/31/middleeast/iraq-mosul-advance/index.html?adkey=bn


This will be big news.