Sunday, July 09, 2017

Day 265 and The Mosul Slog continues





  5 hours ago
Not much bandwidth in US media to cover Iraq War 3.0 adequately when there's a Russian behind every bush.
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Which might not be such a bad thing.

Because those US outlets who are reporting on the topic tend to be reporting the battle is over and won.




But as Daniel Politi (SLATE) points out:
The Iraqi government celebrated Sunday as it declared that the country’s armed forces had defeated ISIS in the militants’ former stronghold of Mosul after a nine-month campaign. Although heavy fighting continued in certain parts of the city, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi traveled to Mosul to congratulate Iraqi troops for the victory. 


And Australia's ABC offers:


Is the fighting over?

Not quite.
State television showed Prime Minister Abadi touring Mosul on foot alongside residents of Iraq's second-largest city.
But air strikes and exchanges of gunfire could still be heard in the narrow streets of Mosul's Old City, where the Islamic State has staged its last stand.
Prime Minister Abadi is yet to issue a formal declaration that the entire city has been retaken.

So day 265 and, in fact, The Mosul Slog continues.

The editorial board of THE DAILY STAR notes:

Yet Abadi’s declaration is premature, and not only because [the Islamic State] still holds much territory in Iraq. 
Enormous challenges remain. Sectarian fault lines that allowed the extremist group to grow and then take control have not gone away, but instead become worse. Some 3 million people are displaced around Iraq, and many will not be eager to return home if places such as Mosul are not quickly rebuilt.
And the state must now deal with the militias it has relied upon, which will not be eager to disarm.



REUTERS' Stephen Kalin appeared on THE NEWSHOUR (PBS) to discuss the latest and observed:

Yes, there are a number of smaller cities to the south and west of Mosul, and we’re expecting that the military campaign will continue with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. The battle is not over against ISIS by any stretch in Iraq. And in addition to those cities, we expect that there will be an insurgency, that there will be asymmetrical terrorist type attacks in Mosul and other parts of Iraq. So, it — really stabilizing Iraq will continue to be an important mission for the security forces.  


Simon Tisdall (GUARDIAN) notes:


Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, was quick to claim credit for the city’s liberation, making a visit in person on Sunday. But Abadi and his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, also bear some responsibility for losing control in the first place.
Few people outside of Iraq and Syria predicted Isis’s rise or its victorious advance in 2014. With hindsight, it became clear the group fed on fierce resentment among Iraq’s Sunni Muslim minority at the failure of the Shia-led Baghdad government to provide equal treatment. Some in Mosul initially welcomed its arrival.







Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "She's Got A Deal For You" went up last night and "Pointing Podesta" went up Friday night.

New content will be going up at THIRD (everything's done but the editorial).

Oh, Joyce e-mailed and asked that we note the videos with Marilyn McCoo posted tonight.


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