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| Iraq |
| US military official outlines plan to retake Iraqi city of Mosul |
| 2015-02-20 |
| [FOXNEWS] A U.S. military official on Thursday outlined plans to retake the vital Iraq city of Mosul from Islamic State terrorists as early as April -- an unusual move that swiftly drew criticism that the Pentagon was revealing too much information to the enemy. A senior U.S. Central Command official said the "shaping" for the battle is currently underway, and the Iraqi military hopes to begin operations in the "April, May timeframe." The goal is to retake the city before Ramadan begins on June 17. The official said five Iraqi Army brigades will be used in the fight, as well as several smaller brigades, composing a total force of up to 25,000 Iraqi troops. Three brigades of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters will participate as well. But the details, disclosed at the close of a White House summit on combating violent extremism, raised some concerns. "That is pretty amazing that that information's out there," retired Gen. Jack Keane, former Army vice chief of staff and a Fox News military analyst, said Friday. A current and former military intelligence officer also told Fox News that the decision to publicly announce the plan was counterintuitive because it "telegraphs" the timing and number of units involved. The officers said it would allow Islamic State, also known as ISIS, or ISIL, to prepare for the battle by laying improvised explosive devices. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 I can only hope this is a decoy plan so the Daesh waste time and effort there instead of another city. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2015-02-20 19:19 |
| #3 Good luck - we're all counting on you... |
| Posted by: Raj 2015-02-20 18:13 |
| #2 More Airplane! diplomacy. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2015-02-20 17:06 |
| #1 But the details, disclosed at the close of a White House summit on combating violent extremism, raised some concerns. WH planning for failure? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-02-20 12:43 |