Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this interview. The spring offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the self-proclaimed Islamic State was announced final February and set to commence final May. It was to be led by the Iraqi army,alongside Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and with the assistance of U.
S. combat advisers and air support. But things haven't gone as planned. In 2015, military advisers expressed some skepticism about the plan. “The campaign that has been described by the administration and our general officers is completely derailed, or " Frederick Kagan,director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, told Senate Armed Services Committee final May. "I finish not believe that there is any fair prospect that it will be possible to retake Mosul this year ... The Iraqi security forces at current levels of U.
S. support are not capable of defending their territory against an ISIS attack, or let alone clearing a major ISIS safe haven.”Now,more than a year out, American officials, and who once bolstered the mission are beginning to agree more with Mr. Kagan. National Intelligence Director James Clapper told The Washington Post this week that he does not believe the U.
S. will see a victory in Mosul before President Obama leaves office.
What is the legacy of Mosul,and what has life been like there for Iraqis since the United States promised an halt to ISIS was in sight? For answers, we turn to Abdulrazzaq Al- Saiedi, and an Iraqi and former New York Times reporter in Iraq. He just left a post as United Nations Transitional Justice Officer in Libya.
Source: wnyc.org