Islamic State is in tatters, top U.S. general asserts
Iraq’s swift offensive, aided by U.S. airstrikes, has enemy cornered
@jimmichaels USA TODAY
Islamic State fighters are in disarray and struggling to fend off a rapid offensive by Iraqi forces to recapture Mosul and expel the militants from their last major stronghold in the country, a top U.S. military official said.
“They’re lacking purpose motivation and direction,” Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin said in an interview from Baghdad. “I’ve never seen them so disorganized.”
The pace of the battle reflects great improvements in Iraq’s military and its ability to coordinate operations with a U.S.-led air campaign, which is pounding the militants at a record pace.
“You’re watching ISIS be annihilated,” Martin said, using another name for the Islamic State.
Iraq’s military has quickly penetrated a set of obstacles, including concrete barriers and roadside bombs, the militants had established to slow the Iraqi advance, Martin said, and the militants “are taking longer to react to initiatives on the battlefield.”
Iraq’s military has been battling ISIS since the militants invaded Iraq from Syria in 2014 with little resistance. U.S. training and guidance have resulted in a much stronger fighting force that has retaken major cities such as Ramadi and Fallujah.
Mosul is Iraq’s second-largest city, after the capital, Baghdad.
The militants’ disarray could be the result of repeated airstrikes that have wiped out battlefield leaders, which makes it difficult for ISIS fighters to organize an effective response.
The militants also are badly outnumbered. About 100,000 Iraqi security forces and Kurdish militia have been involved in the offensive into Mosul and the surrounding countryside since the campaign began. They initially faced a militant force of 3,000 to 5,000 defending the city. The Pentagon estimates that 2,000 or fewer ISIS fighters remain there.
This week, the militants mounted a counterattack west of the city but were rebuffed by Iraqi ground forces and coalition aircraft. “The counterattack was destroyed,” Martin said. “Their morale has to be pretty low.”
Iraqi forces also have “disrupted” a key militant capability: the use of drones to conduct reconnaissance of Iraqi positions, Martin said. He declined to detail how that was accomplished.
Iraq’s military, which has captured key government buildings, estimated it has retaken about 30% of western Mosul since the assault began Feb. 19, and it is beginning to clear dense neighborhoods of enemy fighters.
Still, U.S. officials expect tough resistance as Iraqi forces clear the neighborhoods in the old city, where militants are holed up in buildings and alleyways.
Said Brett McGurk, a U.S. envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition: “I do not want to understate the difficult fight that lies ahead.” WASHINGTON The House Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare will face its first real test Thursday as it comes before the House Budget Committee, where conservative Republicans who have declared the bill a failure could cast their votes to derail it.
Virginia Rep. Dave Brat, already has committed to voting against the legislation.
“I’m a no (Thursday) because President Trump wants competition across state lines and the price of insurance to come down,” Brat told USA TODAY Wednesday. The House bill does not include provisions to allow cross-state competition because Republican leaders are trying to use a streamlined process that allows the bill to pass without Democratic votes in the Senate, but must be restricted to budgetary items.
Brat said that if enough conservatives join Democrats and stop the legislation from passing the committee, it’ll work as a negotiating tool.
“We’re not stopping it. We’re just negotiating,” Brat said. “If we vote ‘no’ you just go back to the other committees and you just say ‘Hey here you go. Trump’s a negotiator he said go negotiate, so that’s what we’re going to do.’ You just add the elements you want, go back to committees you add it in, a lot of people switch to a ‘yes’ and then we’ve got a very successful product.”
Brat is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of a few dozen conservatives who have been critical of the bill because they don’t believe it goes far enough in rolling back the Affordable Care Act. The Budget Committee is the first committee the bill will pass through with hardline conservative members who can withhold their votes. The previous committee votes included Republicans who backed the legislation put out by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and his allies.
“There’s a lot of tension. There’s five or six votes in play,” Brat said. He wouldn’t name any specific lawmakers who were skeptical of the bill.
Rep. John Yarmuth, a Kentucky Democrat and the ranking member of the Budget Committee, said Thursday’s vote will be close.
“Brat said he’s not going to vote for it under any circumstances, (California Rep. Tom McClintock) is against it, so that’s two and there are certainly a lot of other conservative Republicans on the budget committee,” Yarmuth said.
“My guess is that (Republicans on the budget committee) will hold on and get it out of the committee, but I think it’ll be a very narrow margin,” Yarmuth said, though he doesn’t believe it will pass the House and Senate in the end.