Iraqi Troops Not Ready for Mosul, Nor What Comes Next, Says Top US Commander
Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, meet in Baghdad, July 30, 2016.
By Kevin Baron Executive Editor, Defense One Read bio
August 10, 2016
But in Syria, the fall of Manbij is just one to two weeks away, Lt. Gen. MacFarland says in his final war assessment.
What’s different about the end of this Iraq war from the end of the last one? Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, who commands U.S. troops there now and also fought to liberate Ramadi six years ago, says he will leave the country this month confident that Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga troops have proven they can fight and defeat the Islamic State, or ISIS.
What comes after the fight, however, is up to Iraqi politics and even this veteran of Iraq would not venture to guess how well that will turn out.
http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2016/08/iraqi-troops-not-ready-mosul-or-what-comes-next-says-top-us-commander/130660/?oref=d-channelriver
