Donald Trump, as the US Republican presidential nominee (and an opinionated one at that), has opinions on a lot of things. And Mosul is one of them. On Sunday, Trump attacked the base of the battle for Mosul, where the Iraqi army is leading an offensive to take Daesh (ISIS)’s biggest city.
The attack on Mosul is turning out to be a total disaster. We gave them months of notice. U.S. is looking so dumb. VOTE TRUMP and WIN AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2016
Trump made similar criticisms during the 2nd presidential debate earlier this month, saying the anti-Daesh coalition should not give the militant group any warnings about when they will attack.
The tweet was retweeted tens of thousands of times, but not everyone agreed.
I don't know where Trump is getting his info on #Mosul from but the op is actually ahead of schedule. https://t.co/0gIBr63xag
— Haidar Sumeri (@IraqiSecurity) October 24, 2016
Maybe the same person briefing Trump on Mosul is briefing him on the national murder rate.https://t.co/wa0Vn8V1iQ
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) October 24, 2016
Indeed, the Iraqi army and its allies are currently advancing towards the city. If Mosul falls quickly, it will make US president Barack Obama, a key ally of Iraq, look good. And that is more likely to help Trump’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, who served as Obama’s secretary of state.