Donald Trump Is Wrong on Mosul Attack, Military Experts Say

Mr. Trump, who avoided military service during the Vietnam War with five medical or education deferments, boasted again on Wednesday that he had the endorsement of more than 200 retired generals and admirals.

But the endorsements, the reverence of Patton and MacArthur, and Mr. Trump’s military assessment do not impress national security historians like Richard H. Kohn, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina: “I don’t think it really demonstrates any understanding of warfare.”

Robert Scales, a retired Army major general and former commandant of the Army War College, said the unfolding Mosul campaign is a course in Military Operations 101 that American and Iraqi armies have followed for years.

A large allied force approaches the objective (Mosul, in this case) from multiple directions, establishes a loose cordon around the city, and peels away the outlying towns and villages, all the while opening an escape route for refugees and people who do not want to fight, General Scales said.