IN MOSUL, A HEAVY BUT NOT CRUSHING BLOW TO ISLAMIC STATE
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) – Iraqi troops have surrounded western Mosul and military leaders vow it’s only a matter of time until they crush the last major stand of the Islamic State group in Iraq. But the militants are positioning themselves to defend the remains of its so-called “caliphate” in Syria and wage an insurgent campaign in Iraq. The extremists are carrying out what looks like an organized, fighting withdrawal: a core of fighters is holding out in the city using hundreds of thousands of civilians as shields, tying down and bleeding the Iraqi military in urban combat. Meanwhile, the Pentagon and Iraqi officials say the senior IS leadership has escaped to regroup in Syria and the deserts along the border to prepare for the future.