Page 17 - Inside Mosul News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> iraqi led forces continue the offensive to take the city of mosul which is held by isis for roughly two years now and also been a symbol of iraqi and u.s. failure to halt the spread of isis in that part of the world. i want to bring in jane harmon. former democratic congresswoman from new york and also sits on the commission on presidential debates. thank you for being with me. >> headed to vegas. >> i would imagine so. let's talk about the debate in a moment but start with what's happening right now in iraq right now. iraqi troops along with american air support. second day of this offensi...

Themselves. this is going to be very tricky in iraq. let's understand. even if this mosul campaign succeeds and it's important it succeeds, what does the day after look like? the iraqi government isn't strong. shia militias that have been forbidden to be in this fight could come back in if the government doesn't really take control and hold the ground, and engage in ethnic cleansing. there could be a vacuum. iran moves in, et cetera. so this whole region is still enormously, enormously shaky and how we, the u.s., and with public support for our actions is going to operate in the future is goin...

Still left inside mosul. and that's something that needs to be explained. i mean, we're talking about a situation that's going to get worse. the iraqi military and the u.s. military both said they're ahead of schedule but this is a very modest schedule and we need to put this into perspective. this battle is probably going to extend for quite a while. this is just the first day in the battle probably going to last maybe even into next year, craig. >> matt, the significance of mos mosul. you mentioned the size of the population from a strategic standpoint, why is mosul so important? >> reporter...

>> that is the fear for people living inside mosul. and again you have the shiite militia joining the iraqi army coming up from the south. there are all of these rules of engagement. specifically, only the iraqi army is going to enter the city of mosul. the kurdish forces will not go farther south, the -- it's a big-time political problem. >> it's a million people in the city, if they go, where do they go? >> there are humanitarian centers set up in the northern part of the city. let's look at irbil, where matt bradley was -- sort of right here, around irbil, there are all of these humanitaria...

Eastern side. they already apparently, we have been told by people at the frontline, encountered one truck bomb approaching their position, but it was taken out by a u.s.-led coalition aircraft. this operation will take a long time. at this point, it appears the iraqi and kurdish forces will even si encircle the city before they go inside mosul who are secretly phoning us on mobile phones that isis fighter s in the city are n an agitated state. the mosques are calling on the si citizens to resist the infidels. we know they are fed up with isis and misrule and hoping to quickly be delivered fro...