Iraq: Mosul on their mind

The day before delivering his valedictory address to the UN General Assembly, US President Barack Obama met Iraqi prime minister Haider Al-Abadi, providing an opportunity to confront Islamic State (IS or Daesh) with their ambition to recapture Mosul within months. Obama said he and Abadi believed a “more confident” Iraqi military and its US-led allies could move on Mosul “fairly rapidly”. Even though “this is going to be hard”, there was hope for progress by year-end – which would give the president another ‘win’, driving IS from the last major city it controls in Iraq, before he steps down in January.