- Petraeus: Challenge in Mosul will be what happens after
- How a State Dept plan to stabilize Iraq fell apart
Townsend -- the seventh U.S. general since 2003 to lead troops in Iraq -- told the Washington Post that his plan is to “pick up our pace of operations, our rate of fire if you will, so [Iraqi, Kurdish, and Syrian Arab allies] can posture themselves for the next big step.” He’ll be there for a year, and “it’s my intent to have liberated Mosul and Raqqa and be in a pursuit phase by the end of our tour.”