Inside The Battle For Mosul

With guest host Jane Clayson. 

The fight to take back Mosul is underway. We’re on the ground with the latest details and talking with big region watchers.

We talk this hour about the battle to retake Mosul. Since its fall to ISIS in 2014, Iraqi forces have been waiting for the day they will be able to reclaim their city. That day has come. Iraqi forces are making a push toward the heart of the city, and we’re on the ground to look at what’s happening. What’s the future of the ISIS stronghold in Iraq? This hour, On Point: inside the battle to take back Mosul. — Jane Clayson

Richard Engel, chief foreign correspondent for NBC News. (@RichardEngel)

Maria Fantappie, senior Iraq analyst for the International Crisis Group.

Reuel Marc Gerecht, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Former CIA case officer.

NBC News: UN: More Than 1 Million Could Flee Mosul Ahead of Siege — "While Iraqi and Kurdish forces advanced on Mosul, the United Nations warned Monday that more than a million residents might try to get out before the fighting starts — and that ISIS could use them as 'human shields.'"

NPR News: After ISIS, People From Mosul Fear What May Come Next -- "ISIS is Sunni, and most of its support in Iraq has been drawn from the Sunni Arab minority, which has chafed under a government led since 2003 by parties from the Shiite majority. But millions of Sunni Arabs have suffered at the hands of the extremists. They now face a bleak future. Many of their homes have been destroyed in the fighting against ISIS, and they say they are treated as complicit with ISIS by the security forces and some other Iraqis. In some areas, they have been prevented from returning home."

The Wall Street Journal: Tensions Arise Among Allies Fighting to Retake ISIS-Held Mosul — "Tensions emerged Tuesday among allied forces fighting to retake the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State, as Kurdish fighters accused Iraqi government forces of inaction on only the operation’s second day."