(BBC)
Nancy Youseef, Daily Beast: This Is Where the Next Battle Against ISIS Will Be
Taking Hawijah would deprive ISIS of a place to flee to. That’s why it’ll be next.
Before Iraqi forces launch their highly anticipated offensive to retake the nation’s second-largest city, Mosul, back from the self-proclaimed Islamic State, they have one last battle ahead of them—reclaiming the Iraqi city of Hawijah from ISIS control, two defense officials told The Daily Beast.
Hawijah is one of the last ISIS bastions on the road toward Mosul, and in recent weeks the terror group has been unable to hold such cities under its grip, dedicating most of its resources to keeping Mosul instead, the officials said.
Hawijah, which at its peak had 450,000 residents, is a Sunni-dominated city that sits in the part of the Tigris River valley that Iraqi security forces initially bypassed in the push toward the city of Qayyarah, south of Mosul. In Qayyarah, the Iraqis set up a base where several hundred U.S. forces now are based, providing logistical support.
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WNU Editor: According to this post the battle for Mosul will begin in November .... maybe.
It rains in November. Well it is only an inch, but elsewhere it seem likea lot as far as mud goes.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it will be not be big deal. Maybe Mosul will only be as hard as Ramadi or only 3 times as hard.
Reports have been that ISIS followers have moved their families. Maybe they fight harder with their families are not in danger. Maybe they left with their families. It is hard to judge intent. ISIS has shot deserters before.
I wonder how much artillery and air support the Americans will give?
Why bother? Like Obama said ISIS is contained. Well not really. The liar parsed his words or told an partial truth. He failed to say how many countries it was contained in. The less we do, the more the Iranians, Hezbollah and Iraqi Shia will bleed. they are no friends of ours. They will pummel the Kurds and try to ethically cleanse the Sunni.
I hope it is a rattenkrieg.