The US-led coalition has doubled its amount of advisers in Iraq to 450 around Mosul within the last few weeks, including special operators who have entered the city alongside Iraqi troops. Air Force Col. John Dorrian, spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said Wednesday that the advisers have entered Mosul at times, though they have remained behind the “forward line of troops” and are “advising and assisting” instead of participating in direct combat. The increase is meant to support “phase two” of the Iraqi Security Forces’ fight to free the ISIS-held city. The city has been completely surrounded, with bridges crossing the Tigris river inside the city destroyed, so ISIS is unable to resupply or reinforce its fighters.
The Pentagon agency charged with building and operating U.S. spy satellites recently declassified some details about a Cold War-era surveillance program called Jumpseat—a revelation it says sheds light on the importance of satellite imaging technology and how it has advanced in the decades since.
