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The battle for Mosul


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Mosul: Intense Battles With IS On Road To Iraqi City

''The Iraqi army is advancing on Mosul slowly. Sometimes very slowly.

It is made difficult by so-called Islamic State (IS), who are launching harrying attacks along the way.''

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37701250

So it has begun.

And rumor has it that ISIS leaders are already fleeing the city:

Quote

Islamic State Leaders Are Fleeing Mosul, Says US General

''Islamic State leaders have begun to flee Mosul, leaving foreign fighters behind to face the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces that are advancing on the city, a US general has said.''

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/19/mosul-thousands-flee-syrian-refugee-camps-iraqi-forces-close-city

 

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The Kurd's are saying that the Iraqi army is too slow and weak.   Also Baghdad won't allow the Kurd's to enter Mosul even though it sounds like they are doing most of the work.  If this is true it might be harder to take Mosul than they think.

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/10/19/mosul-kurds-complain-iraqi-soldiers-have-not-moved-even-bit-since-operation-began/

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Its like hiring the movers and clearing out an old house on your own ... the movers wont care and would shove and cram anything into anywhere ... while you will take more care and be 'sentimental' about something treating it with more care in packing things up ...

~

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There's no hurry. They'll retake Mosul one building, one street, one block at a time. They'll consolidate their position, check for and clear all booby-traps and seal all tunnels, then move forward and start all over again. The professional officers we trained and Al Maliki replaced with his cronies are back in charge, now and these regular army units have been given the best training and weapons we can offer. They're seasoned and confident from their victories in Fallujah and Ramadi so their esprit de corps is second to none. They will liberate Mosul, but the fight for peace, afterwards will be the hardest battle.

Edited by Hammerclaw
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They won't bomb and reduce the city to rumble. Makes it to hard to advance and creates endless defensive positions for the enemy. Of course there's the huge civilian population to consider as well. They keep collateral damage to the absolute minimum.

Edited by Hammerclaw
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Once one gets over the fact Putin is the quintessential Russian oligarch which he is, he is really not at all as bad as some in recent memory. He's quite predictable and relatively restrained. He really seems to relish being Tsar of all the Russ.

Edited by Hammerclaw
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2 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

?

 

Edited by Hammerclaw
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The problem with liberating Mosul and the defeat of ISIS is that future wars are bound to erupt between the "liberators." Turkey will not allow Kurdish gains and Iraq doesn't want Kurdish gains OR Turkish meddling. The Arabs want to keep their demographic presences. What a cursed region.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/battle-mosul-peshmerga-target-isil-held-bashiqa-161023051223408.html

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On 10/23/2016 at 9:37 AM, Silver_Lyre said:

The problem with liberating Mosul and the defeat of ISIS is that future wars are bound to erupt between the "liberators." Turkey will not allow Kurdish gains and Iraq doesn't want Kurdish gains OR Turkish meddling. The Arabs want to keep their demographic presences. What a cursed region.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/battle-mosul-peshmerga-target-isil-held-bashiqa-161023051223408.html

.

oh ohh --- it looks like this is another ME brinkmanship situation where Turkey's resolve is put to the test ..?

The news footage about the approach to Mosul is a bit surreal -- how different it is to the reporting of the Assad / Russia
struggles against ISIS -- where they are painted as the baddies for doing exactly the same thing - 

no doubt the civilian deaths in and around Mosul will be reported in a completely different way if they are reported at all -

Re the Mosul news coverage -- lots of repeated long dessert shots with distant puffs of bomb smoke  - with a shaky camera -
then close shots of buildings in the built up areas -

last night there was a scene with Iraqi (Kurdish?) forces -- all the men dressed for war and armed - then a woman in
sunglasses went in front of the camera for a second before quickly getting out of shot -- the glimpse of her seemed
out of place -- 

,

 

 

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Erdogan and Putin has already settled the differences ... shook hands and has the daggers firmly in each other's backs ... NATO can't deliver the promises so Turkey is going with Russia ... its a nasty business these foreign policies ...

~

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23 minutes ago, third_eye said:

Erdogan and Putin has already settled the differences ... shook hands and has the daggers firmly in each other's backs ... NATO can't deliver the promises so Turkey is going with Russia ... its a nasty business these foreign policies ...

~

.

a nasty business indeed 

this map that was created in 2006, about a New Middle East is enlightening and isn't set in stone but maybe
serves as a guideline - I'm sure Turkey has noticed that it is in the shrinking category and look at the size of the
projected possible Free Kurdistan territory -!!-- (that includes Mosul?) - oh ohh (again)
Syria is also earmarked for getting smaller - and Iran -

The introduction of the possible 'Islamic Sacred State' is also of note -   
 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/plans-for-redrawing-the-middle-east-the-project-for-a-new-middle-east/3882

The%20Project%20for%20the%20New%20Middle

 

 

Note: The following map was prepared by Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Peters. It was published in the Armed Forces Journal in June 2006, Peters is a retired colonel of the U.S. National War Academy. (Map Copyright Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Peters 2006).

Although the map does not officially reflect Pentagon doctrine, it has been used in a training program at NATO’s Defense College for senior military officers. This map, as well as other similar maps, has most probably been used at the National War Academy as well as in military planning circles.

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1 hour ago, bee said:

a nasty business indeed 

remember what happened the last time they redrew the map of Balkans ?

~

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12 hours ago, bee said:

.

oh ohh --- it looks like this is another ME brinkmanship situation where Turkey's resolve is put to the test ..?

The news footage about the approach to Mosul is a bit surreal -- how different it is to the reporting of the Assad / Russia
struggles against ISIS -- where they are painted as the baddies for doing exactly the same thing - 

no doubt the civilian deaths in and around Mosul will be reported in a completely different way if they are reported at all -

Re the Mosul news coverage -- lots of repeated long dessert shots with distant puffs of bomb smoke  - with a shaky camera -
then close shots of buildings in the built up areas -

last night there was a scene with Iraqi (Kurdish?) forces -- all the men dressed for war and armed - then a woman in
sunglasses went in front of the camera for a second before quickly getting out of shot -- the glimpse of her seemed
out of place -- 

,

 

 

A case of wag the dog. Sometimes you have to wonder whether the military or the spin doctors run these wars.  The Kurds will be doing all the major fighting and the civilians all the major dying and yet somehow the "free press" would like us to believe that Turkish sabre rattling is more important. Kinda sick that all the major protagonists are all in the shadows while the usual suspects and fall guys battle it out. 

Edited by Silver_Lyre
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sign on the dotted line   ->  ................................................................................

~

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Its a shame we had Mosul once that so many Americans died  for, and now because of Obama and Hillary`s pull out  we have to help get it back  now more of our men`s deaths  

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13 hours ago, bee said:

.

a nasty business indeed 

this map that was created in 2006, about a New Middle East is enlightening and isn't set in stone but maybe
serves as a guideline - I'm sure Turkey has noticed that it is in the shrinking category and look at the size of the
projected possible Free Kurdistan territory -!!-- (that includes Mosul?) - oh ohh (again)
Syria is also earmarked for getting smaller - and Iran -

The introduction of the possible 'Islamic Sacred State' is also of note -   
 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/plans-for-redrawing-the-middle-east-the-project-for-a-new-middle-east/3882

The%20Project%20for%20the%20New%20Middle

 

 

 

I've noticed that Jordan gets an upgrade. Funny that! Saudi Arabia goes back to its tribal nomadic roots with the "independent homelands" and Pakistan gets cut in half. What has drawn my attention more than anything is that Afghanistan is still one nation? The one nation that you would have thought could and should be cut up to stop ethnic and religious fighting continues on as the violent melting pot of the region. I guess no one has learnt anything from 2500 years of bloodshed.

Edited by Silver_Lyre
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8 hours ago, docyabut2 said:

Its a shame we had Mosul once that so many Americans died  for, and now because of Obama and Hillary`s pull out  we have to help get it back  now more of our men`s deaths  

.

maybe pulling out to allow the chaos to flourish was part of the (secret agenda?) plan - 

that way the Kurds can now, with help, take it back and have a strong foothold as a Free Kurdistan is built -

just a thought - - it's just that all the things that we might look at and go ... oh how stupid ...
could be part of a wider long term plan -- that the public aren't privy to..? 

.

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7 hours ago, Silver_Lyre said:

I've noticed that Jordan gets an upgrade. Funny that! Saudi Arabia goes back to its tribal nomadic roots with the "independent homelands" and Pakistan gets cut in half. What has drawn my attention more than anything is that Afghanistan is still one nation? The one nation that you would have thought could and should be cut up to stop ethnic and religious fighting continues on as the violent melting pot of the region. I guess no one has learnt anything from 2500 years of bloodshed.

.

Perhaps Afghanistan is just such a tough nut to crack they want to leave it as it is, more or less for now -

On that map it is in the 'loosing territory' group - so maybe whittling away at it over time is the plan..? 

And Yemen - gets bigger - could that explain the war that is going on now - and for it to get bigger the 'right'
people and groups must be in control - that is, the right groups from the Saudi and US / UK etc point of view..

Also --- Free Baluchistan..!...that takes that huge chunk of Pakistan and some of Iran - what's all that about -- 

Edited by bee
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49 minutes ago, bee said:

.

Perhaps Afghanistan is just such a tough nut to crack they want to leave it as it is, more or less for now -

On that map it is in the 'loosing territory' group - so maybe whittling away at it over time is the plan..? 

And Yemen - gets bigger - could that explain the war that is going on now - and for it to get bigger the 'right'
people and groups must be in control - that is, the right groups from the Saudi and US / UK etc point of view..

Also --- Free Baluchistan..!...that takes that huge chunk of Pakistan and some of Iran - what's all that about -- 

Prolly a good idea about A'stan since its caused so much trouble in the past. Notice also how Pakistan no longer has a border with their chief allies the Chinese? Bet that wasn't a typo.

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22 hours ago, bee said:

.

a nasty business indeed 

this map that was created in 2006, about a New Middle East is enlightening and isn't set in stone but maybe
serves as a guideline - I'm sure Turkey has noticed that it is in the shrinking category and look at the size of the
projected possible Free Kurdistan territory -!!-- (that includes Mosul?) - oh ohh (again)
Syria is also earmarked for getting smaller - and Iran -

The introduction of the possible 'Islamic Sacred State' is also of note -   
 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/plans-for-redrawing-the-middle-east-the-project-for-a-new-middle-east/3882

The%20Project%20for%20the%20New%20Middle

 

 

 

They should call Iraq it's ancient name Babylon.

 

 

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.

looks like the Iraqi Kurds with US backing are going to have the same problem in Mosul as the Syrian Army
with Russian backing have in Aleppo - civilians being kept hostage and used as human shields -

of course in East Aleppo there was the added problem of the US and allies shooting up the Syrian Army
and in effect aiding the so called rebel / terrorist groups to keep control - they won't have an additional complication
like this --- unless Turkey gets involved in some way - against the Kurds.. ..?
 

http://www.smh.com.au/world/battle-for-mosul-has-barely-begun-but-the-civilian-death-toll-is-already-rising-20161017-gs4kay.html

Stories have emerged of nervous Islamic State fighters barring Mosul residents from leaving as they seek to preserve their narrative of a "caliphate" that was welcomed and defended by locals. Without agreed-upon escape routes for civilians, Iraqi military commanders have asked families to stay put and fly white flags from their homes, a prospect that Save the Children dismissed as impractical in a brutal urban conflict and, worse, an opening for "civilian buildings being turned into military positions and families being used as human shields."

 

The United Nations shares the concern that ordinary families could be forced into acting as shields for the Islamic State.

"Families are at extreme risk of being caught in crossfire or targeted by snipers," said Stephen O'Brien, the UN's coordinator for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief. "Tens of thousands of Iraqi girls, boys, women and men may be under siege or held as human shields."

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17 hours ago, Lord Fedorable said:

Notice how they've shrunk Israel?

That is coming and it won't be stopped.  The question is, will the Israelis actually go to war to pre-empt and prevent it or will they accede to EU demands, THEN be forced to fight back when they are attacked yet again.  I don't believe there is any serious individual with knowledge of the history of the region that thinks the "French" plan will stop Arab attacks on Israel for more than months.  

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