U.S. Rhetoric Runs Into Iraqi Reality in Islamic State Fight
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An Iraqi military officer said Friday his nation’s troops will need six months to get ready to retake the city of Mosul from Islamic State, undercutting a U.S. statement that the assault would begin as early as April.
The gap between American rhetoric and Iraqi reality has raised questions about why U.S. officials are taking the unusual step of telegraphing publicly to the enemy details of a planned military operation that is months away.