‘Reclaiming Mosul will be strategic gain’

“I think the President (Barack Obama) would be the first to acknowledge that this is a significant test, given the population size of Mosul, given the large geographic area that it encompasses,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Monday. “The symbolic importance that the IS has invested in their control of Mosul, dislodging them from the city would be a significant strategic gain,” he said. “That’s why the US and our Iraqi partners have been working so closely over the last several months to prepare for this operation,” Earnest said in response to a question. Acknowledging that the battle for Mosul is the next test because progress has already been made on the ground in Iraq, and there have been cities like Ramadi and Tikrit that were retaken from IS, he said, “These were significant cities, significant in their population size, that Iraqi security forces did succeed in dislodging IS from. They did that with the support of United States and our coalition partners.”