US: Mosul talk helps civilians, encourages defectors
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BAGHDAD- The spokesman for the US-led coalition helping the Iraqi military on Monday defended recent pronouncements that the operation to retake Mosul is imminent, saying the advanced warning gives civilians hope they will soon be liberated and encourages defections of extremist fighters.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has criticized the openness about future battle plans, most recently in Sunday's debate, claiming it has allowed leaders of ISIS to flee.
As Iraqi forces have moved to encircle Mosul, the country's second-largest city, the Iraqi leadership has promised that ISIS will soon be pushed from the city that it has firmly held for more than two years.
"Today you are closer than ever to being rid of the injustice, gore and brutality of Daesh," Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a recent radio address to Mosul's residents, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
