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Iraqs special forces troops patrol in the eastern side of Mosul, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2017, a day after declaring the area fully liberated from ISIS militants.

AP

MOSUL, Iraq -- President Trump has promised since his days on the campaign trail to wipe out the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and while its still unclear how hell change U.S. policy to try and make good on that vow, the U.S.-backed fight with the Islamic extremists is about to take another significant turn on the ground.

CBS News correspondent Charlie DAgata reports that in some neighborhoods of eastern Mosul, there is a sense that things are returning to normal. Iraqi forces have managed to liberate the eastern half of the city right up to the Tigris River, which divides it roughly in half.

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After more than two years of ISIS occupation, Iraq's second-largest city is being taken back by the Iraqi Army. Lara Logan reports from Mosul.

ISIS still holds onto the western half, however, and DAgata and his team were able to reach the centre of the city, where they saw some of the destruction left behind by the battle for Mosul thus far; its a grim landscape of flattened buildings, craters and debris left by gunfights that took place in relatively close quarters.

While the vast majority of the ISIS militants who held eastern Mosul for more than two years are now gone, even in the liberated half of the city Iraqi forces will still have to go house to house to root out any who may have melted into the community, and could still pose a threat as potential sleeper cells.

As DAgata reports, there have already been examples of car bombs hidden in east Mosul garages that spring into action and attack Iraqi forces as they advance.

The last big battle for Iraqs security forces facing ISIS will be wresting western Mosul back from the militants.

Iraqi commanders and residents say many of the extremists appeared to leave those areas in recent weeks as government forces advanced, likely heading to fortify ISIS defenses in the west.

The western half of the city has the oldest neighborhoods, with some of the narrowest streets -- some of them not even wide enough for vehicles to pass -- so much of the fighting will have to be done on foot.

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President-elect Donald Trump will soon inherit the war against ISIS. As the U.S. continues to assist Iraqi and Kurdish forces in Mosul, the last ...

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, who commands coalition ground forces in Iraq, admitted in an interview with The Associated Press that it is a complicated environment.

West Mosul will be as tough as east Mosul, and from our view even tougher, he said.

DAgata notes that U.S. and coalition forces have blown up most of the bridges leading across the Tigris into the western half of the city, which is going to complicate things further for Iraqi troops.

It is now the last real stronghold ISIS has in Iraq, and they wont likely give it up without a serious fight.

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US-backed forces brace for ISIS' last stand in Iraq - CBS News

The Indian Express

How Iraq came together in the fight against Islamic State. The Indian Express iraq, conflict zone, isis, is, islamic state, syria, syrian war The conflict has entered a decisive phase with Iraqi Security Forces (pictured) hemming in Islamic State remnants in the western half of the group's last major stronghold in Mosul. (Source ...

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How Iraq came together in the fight against Islamic State. - The Indian Express

Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE /international affairs January 22, 2017 01/22/2017 4:53 p.m. By Margaret Hartmann

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While addressing the CIA on Saturday, President Donald Trump took a break from lambasting the media to remind everyone that he thinks the U.S. should have stolen Iraqs oil. He also suggested that the U.S. might get another chance to violate international law.

Now I said it for economic reasons, Trump said while introducing Representative Mike Pompeo, his pick to lead the agency. But if you think about it, Mike, if we kept the oil, you probably wouldnt have ISIS because thats where they made their money in the first place, so we should have kept the oil. But, okay, maybe well have another chance.

National Review has noted that Trumps odd fixation with taking Iraqs oil dates back to at least 2011. He made the argument numerous times on the campaign trail, suggesting that the U.S. could take Iraqs oil while fighting ISIS. When PolitiFact examined the claim in September, numerous experts said trying to seize Iraqi oil would not be legal, feasible, or desirable. The idea is so out of step with any plausible interpretation of U.S. history or international law that they should be dismissed out of hand by anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of world affairs, said Lance Janda, a military historian at Cameron University.

Its not clear what Trump meant by maybe well have another chance, but when youre president, people take even offhand remarks about violating international law pretty seriously. BuzzFeed spoke with several Iraqis on the front lines of the battle against ISIS, and they said they were prepared to take up arms against Americans if they attempted to take their countrys natural resources.

I participated in the attack against the Americans by attacking them with mortars and roadside bombs, and Im ready to do it again, said Abu Luay, an Iraqi security official using a nom de guerre, who is currently fighting the terrorist group in northwest Iraq. We kept our ammunition and weapons from the time the Americans left for fighting ISIS. But once ISIS is gone we will save our weapons for the Americans.

Several other people at a base for Popular Mobilization Units, a new branch of Iraqs armed forces consisting of former militiamen and volunteers fighting against ISIS, said the move would be counterproductive. Iraq recently took out a $5.3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, in part to help pay for the fight against ISIS.

Theres no way Trump could take the oil unless he launched a new military front and it be a new world war, said Kareem Kashekh, a photographer who works for the Popular Mobilization Units.

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Trump Says U.S. Should Have Stolen Iraq's Oil, and 'Maybe We'll Have Another Chance' - New York Magazine

Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer told Fox News Bret Baier Saturday night that President Donald Trumps remarks to the CIA, including a statement where he suggested keeping the oilafter the 2003 invasion ofIraq, could be considered a war crime.

Appearing on Special Report, Krauthammer along with Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist and Fox News Digital Editor Chris Stirewalt took part in a panel discussion on Trumps remarks to CIA officials and employees Saturday afternoon as one of his first stops as president following his inauguration Friday.

Hemingway asserted that Trump was successful in sending the message that he supports the rank and file in the intelligence agencies. Krauthammer expressed concern that Trumps off-handed remark about keeping oil after the 2003 invasion were troubling becausethe president has enormous power to affect world events with just his words.

From Foreign Policy:

At one point, Trump regurgitated parts of his stump speech about how the United States should have kept the oil after invading Iraq. Maybe well have another chance, he added. Aside from being physically impossible to sequester billions of barrels of underground oil, that would constitute a breach of international law. U.S. troops are currently embedded with forces of the country that Trump suggested again invading.

On Special Report, Krauthammer took exception to those remarks as particularly troubling, even going so far as to suggest they could constitute a war crime:

Krauthammer: The point is that when you become the president of the United States, your wordsthey are incredibly important, you can say one sentence and the dollar will lose its value

Baier: Well for example, when he said that [we] should have taken the oil from Iraq and maybe well have another shot at itI mean, if youre Iraq, youd raise your eyebrows.

Hemingway: Again thoughpeople in America are wanting us to not just be careful about which wars we fight, but when we fight them, win themThats a message that goes over extremely well with people.

Baier: I get that, Mollie. But words matter. They do matter.

Krauthammer: Pondering the oil is a war crime.

Watch the clip here.

The entire Special Report panel embedded below.

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Krauthammer: Trump's remarks about keeping oil after Iraq invasion could be a war crime - TheBlaze.com

Tye Sheridan, left, and Alden Ehrenreich in a scene from The Yellow Birds. Photograph: AP

Terrence Malicks The Thin Red Line proved that you could make a beautiful movie about war. The Yellow Birds, a Sundance premiere from French director Alexandre Moors, is the first attempt at a beautiful movie about post-traumatic stress disorder.

The most memorable parts of this Iraq war drama are those detached from the overall story. The Bible-quoting soldier pouring salt over a scorched battlefield, the decision-making when a patrol group discovers a body bomb, a pre-assault interview in which soldiers are asked if this is the most important day of their life.

Moors, whose last effort, Blue Caprice, was a spectacular and surreal examination of the DC sniper incident, excels at creating mood. He has a nose for unorthodox camera placement, shooting from the inside of mailboxes or roving around the sides of convenience stores as the painted brick walls take on an inexplicably ominous quality.

But in time Yellow Birds story threatens to ruin the whole experience. A diced-up timeline means rooting through each scene for clues, but three main characters begin to emerge. Alden Ehrenreich and his enormous, sad eyes is Pvt Bartle, who is tasked by Sgt Sterling (Jack Huston) to keep an eye on mamas boy Murph (Tye Sheridan). The kid can shoot and run fast but, the sergeant is quick to confess to Bartle, he just isnt made for this place.

This place is Iraq, with an extra layer of haze over its fog of war. During the new recruits first mission they may or may not have killed a carload of civilians. Attacks come at all times and without warning, even at a Christmas party.

Back home, Amy and Maureen, Bartle and Murphs mothers (Toni Collette, sarcastic, Jennifer Aniston, all business), worry about their boys in different ways. Bartle makes it back but spends most of his time in bed or drinking. Murphs disappearance sends Maureen on a quixotic run at the US army for more information. She carries a leather binder bursting with maps and letters to a fruitless meeting with her congressman, clinging as best she can to a semblance of hope.

Though Anistons performance is fine, her story arc is dangerously low on oomph. Watching Ehrenreich guzzle beer and hide his face in his pillow is, weirdly enough, oddly compelling. Seeing the battle-worn fighter devolve into a bratty teen in the safety of his mothers house is just about the saddest representation of PTSD put to film.

Clearly theres something no one is telling us about what happened to Murph, but the big reveal is something of a disappointment. Unless this is some grand meta statement about the complexity of war, the ending offers more befuddlement than closure. Perhaps one must accept that we shouldnt second-guess these men until we do a mind-scrambling tour against Iraqi insurgents ourselves.

Yellow Birds goes heavy on the brooding, and even though a lot of it looks gorgeous and carries the whiff of great importance it is ultimately stunted by a central event that isnt worth the mystery that surrounds it. While many sequences in Yellow Birds are striking, overall it fails to take flight.

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The Yellow Birds review Iraq war PTSD made beautiful but baffling - The Guardian