Speaking today, the US commander in charge of coalition forces in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend touted the “progress” made in the Iraqi offensive against Mosul, saying that the offensive is going to last “a couple of more months probably.”
Townsend went on to warn that even if the offensive ended with ISIS defeated and expelled from Mosul, the group would still remain a threat, and that even if all of their physical territory was taken in both Iraq and Syria, they would adapt their tactics back toward insurgency.
This gives the perception that the US war in Iraq is going to last more or less forever, and Townsend doubled down on that matter, talking up a “sustainable presence” of US and coalition forces in Iraq long after the ISIS war to ensure that ISIS doesn’t lead to another “extremist group.”
Townsend also added that the battle in Raqqa, the ISIS capital would be even harder than the one in Mosul, because while there is an actual army involved in the invasion of the Iraqi city, the Syrian city is going to be attacekd by smaller “local partner” forces amid a civil war.