| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraqi Troops in Mosul Could be Trump's First Crisis |
| 2016-11-14 |
| [Unz Review] The Iraqi armed forces are becoming bogged down in the battle for Mosul. Its elite special forces and an armoured division are fighting to hold districts in the eastern outskirts of the city against counter-attacks by Isis fighters using networks of tunnels to move about unseen. "In one day we lost 37 dead and 70 wounded," said a former senior Iraqi official, adding that the Iraqi forces had been caught by surprise by the extent of the tunnel system built by Isis, said to be 45 miles long. The Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and the Ninth Armoured Division have been trying for two weeks to fight their way into that part of Mosul city, east of the Tigris River. Isis is sending waves of suicide bombers either as individuals who blow themselves up or in vehicles packed with explosives, snipers and mortar teams, to restart the fighting in a dozen districts that the Iraqi Army had said were already captured. "At first I was optimistic that we might capture Mosul in two or three weeks, but I now believe it will take months," said Khasro Goran, a senior Kurdish leader familiar with conditions in Mosul, in an exclusive interview with The Independent. He said he had changed his mind about the likely length of the siege when he witnessed the ferocity of the fighting in the outer defences of Mosul. He added that "if they [Isis] continue fighting like this then a lot of Mosul will be destroyed. I hope it will not be like Aleppo." A prolonged siege of Mosul with heavy civilian casualties and the possibility of Turkish military intervention is likely to be the first international crisis to be faced by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. The slow and heavily-contested advance of the Iraqi armed forces into the city means that the attack will still be going on when he is inaugurated in Washington on 20 January. Con't. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #17 Fuel air munitions, TW |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2016-11-14 21:53 |
| #16 #11 Flame throwers and Jerry cans of gasoline worked wonders for my grandfather and uncles in the Pacific. Yes, they did, Knuckles! Here is a pic of my dad's amphibian tractor hosing a cave on Peleliu in WW2. Dad drove an LVT with a Canadian Ronson flamethrower module placed in the bed. Flame worked wonders on neutralizing caves and pillboxes. However, one had to watch out for a pillbox and some serious ammunition and artillery round cookoffs.  |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2016-11-14 20:14 |
| #15 |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2016-11-14 18:15 |
| #14 Elite in relation to the regular Amy which probably isn't very effective |
| Posted by: John Frum 2016-11-14 15:26 |
| #13 Its elite special forces and an armoured division are fighting to hold districts in the eastern outskirts of the city Foolish use of rapid deployment mobile forces. Maybe not so elite. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2016-11-14 15:02 |
| #12 Perhaps some carpet bombing is in order. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2016-11-14 13:47 |
| #11 Flame throwers and Jerry cans of gasoline worked wonders for my grandfather and uncles in the Pacific. |
| Posted by: Knuckles Whaising3001 2016-11-14 13:37 |
| #10 Trump's crisis is the state of US physical infrastructure, manufacturing jobs, illegal immigration etc. |
| Posted by: John Frum 2016-11-14 12:54 |
| #9 Tunnels are susceptible to gas and those compression bomb thingies. Think of this as an opportunity to acquire new skills, Mr. Goran. Consult the Israelis. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2016-11-14 11:44 |
| #8 Remember the period before the 2006 Mid-Term Election? The local The MSM will make it a Republican problem because that is what they do. |
| Posted by: magpie 2016-11-14 11:42 |
| #7 It didn't take the press too long to start pinning blame on Trump, did it? This is only the beginning. |
| Posted by: Raj 2016-11-14 11:29 |
| #6 Doesn't help that the western side of Mosul was left unsecured. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-11-14 11:22 |
| #5 I'm with Frank G on this. Let them handle their own messes. And just for the record, we need to make it a rule to shoot out of hand any and all who bring up reconstruction of a defeated enemy. And if they don't feel 'quite defeated yet', well okay then, keep shelling until they get the message. Don't get me started on NGO's. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2016-11-14 09:56 |
| #4 I believe I came to understand Arab militaries in 1980, when - while stationed on Israeli Egyptian border - I've seen an officer hit a senior enlisted on the face with a riding crop. Several times. The NCO didn't even try to cover his face, or anything. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2016-11-14 08:46 |
| #3 Why? Just because you say so? It's a ongoing crisis for the Iraqis who elected a corrupted pol who made appointments based on loyalty not competency. Sounds like a self inflicted wound to me. Maybe if you really fought a war to win rather than an exercise to placate NGOs and their whining, it might not be as difficult as you make it. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2016-11-14 08:39 |
| #2 and this is our crisis, how? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-11-14 08:39 |
| #1 Historically this situation would have been met by a siege. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2016-11-14 08:36 |