Over at Commentary, Max Boot has some enlightening analysis of the fight to retake Mosul, and why the Republican nominee’s comments are foolish:
Even before Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced the official offensive late on Sunday, the signs of what was to come were obvious. As Rod Nordland of the New York Times reported earlier in the day from Erbil in the Kurdish region: “With Iraqi forces surrounding Mosul for an imminent assault, residents are hoarding food and furtively scrawling resistance slogans on walls, the city’s Islamic State rulers are building tunnels and staying out of sight of drones, and Iraqi helicopters are dumping leaflets predicting that the end of the terrorist reign is near.” Mosul is still held by an estimated 3,000 to 4,500 ISIS fighters, but their strength is ebbing away. Their money is running low, and they are having trouble recruiting new fighters. The population has turned against them and their insanely restrictive version of sharia law. There are even resistance cells said to be operating in the city. Meanwhile, on the perimeter, thousands of Iraqi troops—Shiite militiamen and Kurdish Peshmerga—have gathered for an assault backed by 5,000 U.S. troops, who aren’t just providing advice but are also firing artillery and calling in air strikes. As usual, the Iraqi Counterterrorism Forces—their Special Operations Forces—will be in the forefront of the battle. Contrary to what Donald Trump imagines, it is simply impossible to keep secret the preparations for a battle of this magnitude. There are valid reasons for telegraphing that an offensive is starting: It can dispirit the enemy, leading some to flee. It can encourage resistance fighters to rise up, and it warns civilians to seek shelter, so they don’t become casualties. But the actual tactical plans have remained a secret, and rightly so: ISIS didn’t know exactly where or when the blow would land.
You can read the rest of Boot’s piece here.
