An offensive to retake the city, Iraq's second largest, has been planned for months.Mosul has been under IS control since June 2014.The UN has warned that the humanitarian impact could be "enormous", and possibly affect up to 1.2 million people living in and around the city.The assault from Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi government forces is backed by the US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq.Mosul is the group's last major stronghold in Iraq. The loss of the city, officials say, would mark the effective defeat of IS in the country.
Quote from: Risay117 on October 17, 2016, 03:31:25 PMI bet it is going to be an Iraqi Army operation, they better make sure to keep the Kurds and the Shia militia out or else this could get alot more ugly.>thinking any of these people are relevantThis is an American operation.
I bet it is going to be an Iraqi Army operation, they better make sure to keep the Kurds and the Shia militia out or else this could get alot more ugly.
Quote from: Risay117 on October 17, 2016, 03:54:01 PMQuote from: challengerX on October 17, 2016, 03:40:21 PMQuote from: Risay117 on October 17, 2016, 03:31:25 PMI bet it is going to be an Iraqi Army operation, they better make sure to keep the Kurds and the Shia militia out or else this could get alot more ugly.>thinking any of these people are relevantThis is an American operation.The Americans may be calling the shots in some cases but this is mostly and Iraqi army operation, hell the Iraqi forces have gone against the advice of the Americans before. Also the question will come down how fast will it fall, cause the longer it takes the quicker Aleppo falls. And the Americans will do anything they can to close the border and halt the flow of Shia Militia to Syria. Mosul is a big part of that plan.Also they really need Iraq to look strong and independent to at least show some form of opposition even if friendly against the Iranian. They do not want another puppet in the region for Iran to play with. Thats why Iraq needs to call the shots and needs to show the strength of its army. Funny thing is they also need to make their former enemies like Sadr strong and vocal, to actually stand up to the Iranians. Even if they are friendly. Make these people patriotically Iraqi. In essence tear down these sectarian divides and force Iraqi patriotism in the population. This way even their most vocal enemies like Sadr will not look too kindly on the Iranians ordering or trying to force their will on Iraq.Yeah whatever dude none of that matters.American special forces are the ones doing all the heavy lifting with the Iraqi army coming in and claiming victory afterwards. That is, what's left of the Iraqi army that didn't surrender and join ISIS.
Quote from: challengerX on October 17, 2016, 03:40:21 PMQuote from: Risay117 on October 17, 2016, 03:31:25 PMI bet it is going to be an Iraqi Army operation, they better make sure to keep the Kurds and the Shia militia out or else this could get alot more ugly.>thinking any of these people are relevantThis is an American operation.The Americans may be calling the shots in some cases but this is mostly and Iraqi army operation, hell the Iraqi forces have gone against the advice of the Americans before. Also the question will come down how fast will it fall, cause the longer it takes the quicker Aleppo falls. And the Americans will do anything they can to close the border and halt the flow of Shia Militia to Syria. Mosul is a big part of that plan.Also they really need Iraq to look strong and independent to at least show some form of opposition even if friendly against the Iranian. They do not want another puppet in the region for Iran to play with. Thats why Iraq needs to call the shots and needs to show the strength of its army. Funny thing is they also need to make their former enemies like Sadr strong and vocal, to actually stand up to the Iranians. Even if they are friendly. Make these people patriotically Iraqi. In essence tear down these sectarian divides and force Iraqi patriotism in the population. This way even their most vocal enemies like Sadr will not look too kindly on the Iranians ordering or trying to force their will on Iraq.
I don't care about a certain division of soldiers that didn't surrender. The fact is Arab soldiers are lazy, undisciplined, disorganized, unprofessional, cowardly, corrupt, stupid,
They sent special forces.
I'm aware that one of the main objectives is to train locals. But if you honestly think that Kurds and Iraqis have been making these huge advancements in clearing out ISIS, I don't know what to tell you. It's just like in Libya where JTF2 and others were clearing the way for rebels.
Do you expect to find pictures of them during an operation? I don't get it.
Special forces come in small numbers and cannot spearhead full frontal assaults on cities.You realize special forces are sent in behind enemy lines, right? Often posing as the enemy. I'm talking above and beyond the special forces that we know about. This isn't the 1800's, they're not going to march into Mosul.
Like I said some decent soldiers isn't cutting it. And ISIS isn't an army, they're terrorists. They don't really have the structure a real military has. Not that it suits Arabs either way.
I don't get what you're trying to say here. I never said they're not helping Kurds. I said they're there training Iraqi soldiers too. But my point is Americans are the ones doing the real work.
Of course they're not going to do all the fighting, I never said that. My point is they're going to be doing the serious work.
Quote from: Luciana on October 18, 2016, 03:41:27 PMQuote from: challengerX on October 18, 2016, 03:37:35 PMOf course they're not going to do all the fighting, I never said that. My point is they're going to be doing the serious work. I'm curious, what is the serious work? I figured actually taking the towns was the serious stuff.Fulcrum disposal
Quote from: challengerX on October 18, 2016, 03:37:35 PMOf course they're not going to do all the fighting, I never said that. My point is they're going to be doing the serious work. I'm curious, what is the serious work? I figured actually taking the towns was the serious stuff.
Quote from: Risay117 on October 17, 2016, 03:54:01 PM and force Iraqi patriotism in the population.
and force Iraqi patriotism in the population.