AUTHOR'S FOREWORD

I decided to write this work for two simple reasons. The first is that in Mosul, in northern Iraq, events have recently taken place that will determine the development of military thought for future years, and possibly decades. Nine months of continuous fighting by a huge contingent of one hundred thousand against the most radical terrorist organization of our time is something that needs to be known and understood. The second reason is the surprising indifference with which this operation was treated in Ukraine. Apart from a few journalistic articles and interviews, the battle for Mosul remained unreported for Ukraine. And this in a country that has been at war for three years. Such indifference deprives you of the opportunity to learn from others' experiences and mistakes. And thereby save hundreds, and possibly thousands of lives. That is why I decided to write this work and, with my own modest efforts, try to understand what, why and with what consequences happened in Iraq, so far from us and so similar to Ukraine. This three-part work examines the background to the Mosul tragedy, the history of the Islamic State and the consequences of its rule in northern Iraq. This work may be of interest both to those who are professionally involved or interested in military topics, and to those who want to learn more about the events in Iraq. The work is far from perfect. To write it, I used mainly English and Arabic open sources. Please be lenient and understand the attempt to highlight events that have occurred recently in the world in which we live.

In my work I tried to be as objective as possible and if I failed, leave it at my conscience.

With respect, Alexander Korenkov,

August - September 2017

Kyiv