{"id":5616,"date":"2017-07-23T00:09:19","date_gmt":"2017-07-22T18:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/?p=5616"},"modified":"2017-07-23T00:09:19","modified_gmt":"2017-07-22T18:39:19","slug":"the-battle-for-mosul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/","title":{"rendered":"The Battle for Mosul"},"content":{"rendered":"

A very good read on the Battle for Mosul<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Iraqi
Members of the 9th Iraqi Army Division, supported by Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, fire a heavy machine gun at ISIS fighter positions near Al Tarab, Iraq, March 17, 2017. CJTF-OIR is the global Coalition to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Hull) = source – Here<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

All special-\u00adforces soldiers,<\/strong>\u00a0indeed all Iraqi forces, from the most experienced to the greenest, wore flak jackets and helmets only when ordered to by commanders, commanders only when ordered to by generals and generals never. When I asked why, I was told some variation of \u201cit can\u2019t protect you.\u201d This was not an indictment of the gear, it took a while to realize, but an expression of a rich fatalism, an alloy of courage and resignation and faith. It was another way of saying, \u201cIf God wants me to die today, so be it,\u201d a sentiment you heard in so many words all the time from the soldiers and everyone else.<\/p>\n

The attitude extended to suicide. A soldier told me about an ambush he was caught in: 35 casualties, a dozen vehicles totaled. They were pinned down overnight. He wasn\u2019t scared of dying, he said, but \u201cwas scared of them taking me alive. So I spared a bullet. I call it \u2014 we call it, all of us \u2014 the mercy bullet. When you are surrounded, you kill yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I remember a comic book, one of those imprints that looked like indrajal but was not, a story about a soldier, who believed he would only die when he was shot with a bullet bearing his name (literally). Read it as a pre-teen, in the era that commando comics were avaialable at ciruclating libraries. The story somehow stuck in my head after all these years. And, today, while reading this NYT piece, that snippet popped into my head.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A very good read on the Battle for Mosul All special-\u00adforces soldiers,\u00a0indeed all Iraqi forces, from the most experienced to the greenest, wore flak jackets and helmets only when ordered to by commanders, commanders only when ordered to by generals and generals…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25,38,43],"tags":[1081],"class_list":["post-5616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-religion","category-terror","tag-mosul"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Battle for Mosul - A PoV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Battle for Mosul - A PoV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A very good read on the Battle for Mosul All special-\u00adforces soldiers,\u00a0indeed all Iraqi forces, from the most experienced to the greenest, wore flak jackets and helmets only when ordered to by commanders, commanders only when ordered to by generals and generals...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A PoV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-22T18:39:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@calamur\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@calamur\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"The Battle for Mosul\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-22T18:39:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":333,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"keywords\":[\"Mosul\"],\"articleSection\":[\"International\",\"Religion\",\"terror\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Battle for Mosul - A PoV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-22T18:39:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/23\\\/the-battle-for-mosul\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Battle for Mosul\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/\",\"name\":\"A PoV\",\"description\":\"Harini Calamur's Writings\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938\",\"name\":\"calamur\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"calamur\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Battle for Mosul - A PoV","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Battle for Mosul - A PoV","og_description":"A very good read on the Battle for Mosul All special-\u00adforces soldiers,\u00a0indeed all Iraqi forces, from the most experienced to the greenest, wore flak jackets and helmets only when ordered to by commanders, commanders only when ordered to by generals and generals...","og_url":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/","og_site_name":"A PoV","article_published_time":"2017-07-22T18:39:19+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@calamur","twitter_site":"@calamur","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"The Battle for Mosul","datePublished":"2017-07-22T18:39:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/"},"wordCount":333,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/#\/schema\/person\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","keywords":["Mosul"],"articleSection":["International","Religion","terror"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/","url":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/","name":"The Battle for Mosul - A PoV","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2017-07-22T18:39:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2017\/07\/23\/the-battle-for-mosul\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Battle for Mosul"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/","name":"A PoV","description":"Harini Calamur's Writings","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/#\/schema\/person\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/#\/schema\/person\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938","name":"calamur","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"calamur"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g"}}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p22F9v-1sA","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5616\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}