The fight against ISIS has now reached a critical point. Mosul is the last major urban area under ISIS control in Iraq, and it is now effectively under siege by Iraqi and U.S. forces. Now is the time to squeeze Mosul until it breaks and ISIS is forced to retreat. But there are two major areas of the fight that must be monitored: our own casualty rates and ISIS offensives elsewhere meant to distract or scatter friendly forces from the offensive against Mosul.
Last week, Jason Finan, an American EOD Tech, was killed north of Mosul by an IED blast, bringing the number of U.S. service members killed in the fight against ISIS to four. Our near lack of casualties has largely been due to our strategy of arming, training, and advising local forces combating ISIS. However, our troops are increasingly finding themselves in combat scenarios, proving that anywhere our troops are located is a combat zone. Furthermore, we must closely watch the fight against ISIS and be willing to commit more troops if necessary. Ultimately, ISIS is not the Taliban and we must be willing to take the fight to them instead of sitting on our hands and waiting for the next attack on U.S. soil.
Secondly, all forces engaged against ISIS need to be aware of the lengths that the organization is willing to go to in order to divert friendly forces from the main battlefront. Last Friday, ISIS suicide bombers attacked police officers and an electricity station in the city of Kirkuk roughly 80 miles southeast of Mosul. It is crucial that a large-scale ISIS attack away from Mosul is prevented as this could very well divert forces from the fight against ISIS or create yet another theater of war.
We have certainly come too far to turn back now. What we must ensure is that haste or lack of preparation doesn’t turn us back either.