Wall Street Journal – by ALI A. NABHAN And MATT BRADLEY
BAGHDAD—Al Qaeda-inspired militants seized control of Iraq’s second-largest city on Tuesday in a brazen military operation that underscored the weakness of the Baghdad government across vast swaths of the country.
Hours after government forces fled Mosul in disarray following four days of fighting, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared a nationwide “state of maximum preparedness” but didn’t indicate whether government forces were mobilizing to retake the Iraqi city, 220 miles north of the capital Baghdad. Continue reading “Militants Overrun Iraq’s Second-Largest City As Government Forces Flee”