Iraqi forces are trained and ready for the fight to retake Mosul, and are just awaiting the go ahead from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi. US and coalition forces have trained enough Iraqi troops for the battle against ISIS, and it is just a political decision now of when to begin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said at ASC16. US and coalition forces, especially airpower, will be ready to provide support for the fight. “We have gained momentum,” Dunford said at ASC16. Iraqi forces are closing in on the city of Mosul, taking 12 nearby villages this week, Iraqi officials told Voice of America. Dunford and other officials have said the fight for Mosul could begin next month, though now politics are driving the decision-making, he said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III chaired a China-focused military briefing Oct. 27, part of a biweekly series of briefings with senior military commanders about China’s growing threat in the wake of an orbital hypersonic weapon test that elicited public worries from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. “What we…