Mosul

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Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Dunford and Defense Secretary Ash Carter faced sharp questions from Republicans angry that the Obama administration is not taking more aggressive steps to end the 5-year-old-civil war in Syria. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Islamic State launches chemical attack against U.S., Iraqi forces, Pentagon confirms

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

Confusion remains amid sectarian, ethnic and religious rivalries as to who will take control of Mosul after Iraqi and American forces liberate the city from Islamic State. (Associated Press)

Mosul campaign crucial in ISIS fight with Obama set to leave behind unfinished war

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

The Islamic State group received bomb-making supplies from private Turkish companies, a former counterterrorism official said. (Associated Press/File)

IS loss of border area with Turkey sharply harms group

By BASSEM MROUE - Associated Press

Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the new commander general of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, attends a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, Pool) ** FILE **

Sean MacFarland, departing U.S. commander, sees turning point in Islamic State fight

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

In this Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, photo, Christian women gather at an Assyrian church in Irbil, Iraq, to mourn the death of a member of their community who died in Europe. As operations to retake the militant-held city of Mosul ramp up, Iraqi Christians displaced from the area by the Islamic State group say even a military defeat of the extremists in Iraq, will not make the country safe for minorities again. (AP Photo/Alice Martins) ** FILE **

Christians: Retaking Mosul won’t make it safe

Associated Press

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015 file photo, members of a cargo aircraft crew perform a visual check of their passengers as their plane prepares to land on the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier currently deployed in the Persian Gulf, supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the military operation against Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq. Two years ago, just weeks after the fall of Mosul, an Islamic State group push deeper into Iraq’s Kurdistan region triggered Iraq’s Peshmerga forces to retreat and the U.S.-led coalition to drop the first airstrikes in the fight against the militant group. Since then coalition planes have dropped more than 9,400 bombs on Iraq. The munitions, often called in to closely support advancing forces on the ground, have dramatically changed the fight against IS, allowing Iraqi forces to slowly claw back cities, towns, supply lines and infrastructure. But the fight _ that continues to be largely waged from the air _ has also leveled entire neighborhoods, displaced millions and redrawn the Iraqi map. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic, File)

2 years of anti-IS airstrikes have redrawn the Iraqi map

By SUSANNAH GEORGE - Associated Press

Mosul Dam holds enough water to engulf Iraq's second-largest city and spill to Baghdad 240 miles away. (Associated Press)

Mosul Dam need for maintenance clouded by power struggle

By Laura Kelly — Special to The Washington Times

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 1, 2016 file photo, Iraqi counterterrorism forces face off with Islamic State militants in the Nuaimiya neighborhood of Fallujah, Iraq. Iraq’s government is setting its sight on Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city that has been under IS control since June 2014, as its next major target in the fight against IS. The assault is likely months away, but fierce fighting has already been raging as Iraqi forces try to clear the militants from villages south of the city.(AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

Retaking IS-held Mosul likely to be tricky, costly for Iraq

By HAMZA HENDAWI and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA - Associated Press

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is trying to quell a movement of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. (Associated Press)

Haider al-Abadi, Iraq prime minister, faces power struggle with Muqtada al-Sadr in Mosul fight

By Ammar Al Shamary and Robert Tollast — Special to The Washington Times

Residents who fled towns and villages near Mosul during the fight between Iraqi Security Forces and Islamic State militants moved to a camp for displaced people outside Irbil. Some U.S. officers in Baghdad believe the Obama administration is rushing plans for a Mosul offensive so it takes place before the November presidential election. (Associated Press)

Obama rushing Mosul offensive against ISIS to influence election, troops fear

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in this June 30, 2016 file photo. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) **FILE**

Defense, foreign ministers to plan next steps against Islamic State

By Lolita C. Baldor - Associated Press

FILE - In this June 30, 2016, file photo, Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon. Defense and foreign ministers from more than 30 nations are gathering in Washington to plan the next steps in the fight against the Islamic State and to determine what more they can do as the fights for key cities in Iraq and Syria move forward. Carter will meet with his counterparts Wednesday, July 20, to discuss how they can accelerate the campaign and build on the momentum, particularly in Iraq. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Middle East stabilization a chief concern, Ashton Carter says

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, right, stands with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari at the Prime Minister's Office in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015. Al-Abadi called on the international community to do more to help his country win the war against the Islamic State group, saying that the help pledged by a dozen countries has thus far fallen short. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraqi official, seeks more aid ahead of Mosul offensive

By Jessie Fox - The Washington Times

Visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, left, shakes hands with Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi at the Ministry of Defense, Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 11, 2016. (AP Photo)

Islamic State rapidly losing ground in Iraq and Syria: report

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

Visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, left, shakes hands with Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi at the Ministry of Defense, Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 11, 2016. (AP Photo)

Campaign for Mosul in Iraq to get 560 more U.S. troops

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, second left, is welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Qubad Talabani, left, on arrival in Irbil, northern Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015. Carter is visiting with Kurdish president Massoud Barzani as well as U.S. troops to discuss the fight against the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Seivan M.Salim)

Ashton Carter announces 560 more U.S. troops to Iraq

By Lolita C. Baldor - Associated Press

A candlelight vigil is held at the site of the Karada attack in Baghdad. The attack was the deadliest to hit the Iraqi capital during the campaign against the Islamic State. (Associated Press)

ISIS unleashes terrorist attacks amid string of battlefield defeats

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

A member of Iraqi counterterrorism forces stands guard near Islamic State militant graffiti in Fallujah, Iraq, Monday, June 27, 2016. Thick clouds of black smoke billowed over northwest Fallujah Monday as dozens of homes continued to burn a day after the city was declared “fully liberated” from the Islamic State group. Iraqi special forces Lt. Gen. Abdel Wahab al-Saadi who led the operation to retake the city, said that IS militants torched hundreds of houses in Fallujah's north and west as they fled Sunday, just as the fighters did in many of the city's other neighborhoods over the course of the operation. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Year-end goal to retake Mosul in question despite Fallujah victory: Pentagon

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

Iraqi security forces patrol after defeating Islamic State militants in Fallujah, Iraq, Sunday, June 26, 2016. A senior Iraqi commander said the city of Fallujah was "fully liberated" from Islamic State militants on Sunday, (AP Photo)

Fallujah fully liberated from ISIS group, Iraqi commander says

By Sinan Salaheddin and Susannah George - Associated Press

New plan: Atheel al-Nujaifi, a controversial former governor, claims his approach to dealing with the Islamic State is the most viable. (Associated Press)

Atheel al-Nujaifi, ex-Iraqi governor, touts plan to push back ISIS

By Douglas Burton - Special to The Washington Times