near mosul. we know the humanitarian effects of this have to be considered as well as the strategic benefits. what is the situation right now? >> well, chris, in the plains behind me, this is one of the first areas that the kurdish peshmerga pushed in the last 14 hours or so, ever since iraq's prime minister announced the beginning of this crucial battle. since then, we have been seeing air strikes. we have been seeing massive explosions, presumably car bombs or suicide car bombs. sporadic gun battles and all of this, chris, you can see is happening in open land, which means the coalition air strikes can be called in fairly easily. one needs to take into consideration that the same intensity of battle and moreso is going to be what we expect to transpire within the city of