(Jerusalem Post) Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah - Iraq's second most populated city, Mosul, fell to ISIS in the summer of 2014. At that time, 1,500 ISIS fighters defeated three fully-equipped Iraqi regular divisions entrenched in the city. Today, Iraqi troops and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, assisted by thousands of American, Western and Iranian advisers, face 5-10,000 ISIS combatants in Mosul, with the U.S.-led alliance providing air cover. A key element in the battle of Mosul is the role to be played by Turkey. Turkish President Erdogan has repeatedly said that Turkish forces will participate in the "liberation" of Mosul even if the Iraqi government is opposed, which it is. The Iraqi decision to start the offensive on Oct. 17 took the Turks by surprise and preempted a Turkish move toward Mosul. The battle of Mosul signals the last gasps of the Islamic Caliphate. Yet Muslim radical movements will continue to flourish as long as they are fed with hatred of Western civilization. The writer was former deputy head for assessment of Israeli military intelligence.
2016-10-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive