HARD FIGHTING IN MOSUL: The fight to liberate western Mosul, which began a few days ago, is turning out to be as tough as advertised. The liberation of the part of the city east of the Tigris river took a heavy toll on some of Iraq’s best troops, its elite counterterrorism forces. The densely populated western part of the city with its narrows streets poses a particular challenge when the goal is to kill the enemy, but not the civilians trapped by the fighting.

One reason the assault is taking so long is that in previous operations, liberating Ramadi and Fallujah, ISIS fighters could cut and run to fight again another day. But with Mosul being their last stand in Iraq, they have dug in to fight to the finish.