QUESTION ASKED: Has the US prepared for the day after a Mosul victory?

The US on Thursday reported that Iraqi troops, backed by US airpower and Special Forces, had stormed toward Mosul with unexpected speed. While that success is welcome, it is intensifying concerns that the US and its partners have not adequately prepared for the biggest challenge yet to come: finding a way to keep the peace in the city after two years of ISIS domination.

The battle is expected to lead to a major refugee exodus, a possible ISIS insurgency should fighters opt to blend in with the local population rather than flee or fight to the death, and power struggles among Mosul’s diverse ethnic, tribal and religious groups.

Some Western diplomats have privately voiced to CNN concern that not enough planning had been done in the run-up to the assault, even when it wasn’t ahead of schedule.

I wrote a couple weeks ago that “the eventual ‘peace’ between Kurdish, Turkish, and Iraqi forces could prove uglier” than the fight for Mosul — and that was before learning that Turkish President Recep Erdoğan was talking up a map showing Turkey in possession of the Kurdish areas of Iraq and Syria — including Mosul.