My perspective on ISIS that is having helped the Iraqis fight them for so long. If ISIS is anything, it's an army.

ISIS wants to win. They might not be good, but they really, really want to win.

They might not be good, but they really, really want to win,

and they're willing to pay an extraordinary price to win

and to defend what they took.

In Mosul, I'd suggest that it hosted the most violent urban combat that the world may have seen since World War II.

Hey, welcome to another episode of the Modern War Institute podcast. I'm John Amble, editorial director at MWI.

And for this episode, I had the chance to talk to Colonel Pat Work,

commander of second brigade combat team, 82nd Airborne Division. For nine months last year,

Colonel Works Brigade was the centerpiece of the U.S. advisory mission in Iraq, working alongside and enabling Iraqi security forces in their fight against ISIS, including

a month-long and remarkably hard fight to dislodge the group from Mosul, the city that

ISIS had seized in the summer of 2014 and where the group's leader had proclaimed

a new caliphate.

There is perhaps no person in the US Army with a more relevant perspective on how best to partner with a host nation military and win on the modern battlefield.

His experience during the battle for Mosul also situates him uniquely to examine the challenges posed by cities,

an environment in which U.S. forces will increasingly be called on to fight in the future. It's a great conversation full of important insights, but before we get to it, just a couple

quick notes. First, hopefully you're already subscribed to the MWI podcast. If not, you can find

us on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you like what you hear, please

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And second, as always,

...