- ISW: Iraq’s Sunni insurgency begins as ISIS loses ground in Mosul
Josh Rogin reports: Despite the Trump administration’s travel ban, the Iraqi member of parliament whose impassioned plea for help spurred the United States to intervene to save Yazidi civilians from the Islamic State made it to Washington this week to accept a human rights award. Her message is that people around the world still look to the United States to defend the vulnerable and stand up for human rights, even if the U.S. president won’t. – Washington Post
The battle to wrest the strategically key city of Mosul, Iraq, from the hands of the Islamic State is one of the central campaigns of Operation Inherent Resolve, and the biggest since the war against ISIS began 2½ years ago. – Military Times
The top U.S. commander of the anti-Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) coalition said Wednesday the campaigns to retake both Raqqa, Syria, and Mosul, Iraq, from the terrorist group should be done within six months. – The Hill
From Pete Knoetgen, Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy (JMEPP): “The propaganda war for Mosul provides a window into the two sides’ differing organizational priorities, and the political terrain which the Iraqi government must dominate if it hopes to stabilize Ninewa Province. Major combat operations in the Battle for Mosul will likely conclude in the coming months, but the degree to which the current messaging campaigns resonate with Ninewa residents could have significant effects on the Iraqi government’s long-term legitimacy in the region.”