Extended offensive expected in Mosul campaign

[unhappycamper]

Extended offensive expected in Mosul campaign
By Bradley J. Brooks and Steven R. Hurst - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 29, 2008 21:30:49 EST

MOSUL, Iraq — The top American commanders in northern Iraq predicted the battle to oust al-Qaida in Iraq from its last urban stronghold will not be a swift strike, but rather a grinding campaign for Mosul that will require more firepower from both the U.S. and Iraqi allies.

The statements Tuesday appeared to discount suggestions by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that Iraqi forces were gathering for a “decisive” attack as soon as all reinforcements are in place.

“It is not going to be this climactic battle ... It’s going to be probably a slow process,” said Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq.

In a telephone interview from his headquarters in Tikrit, Hertling described the strategy for Mosul — Iraq’s third-largest city — as the same step-by-step tactics used in the U.S.-led troop offensives in Baghdad: win control of a district and keep troops there to hold it.

Hertling said he was moving a considerable force of “enablers” into Nineveh province and Mosul, its capital. He would not disclose numbers, but said the move on Mosul had long been planned.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_mosulcampaign_080129/