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Falluja gains boost Iraqi PM ahead of Mosul, but for how long?

The rapid entry of Iraqi forces into central Falluja last week surprised many who expected a drawn-out battle with Islamic State for the bastion of Iraq's Sunni insurgency, where some of the toughest fighting of the U.S. occupation took place. The campaign has offered Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi respite from a political crisis that paralyzed […]

Stephen Kalin and Ahmed Rasheed write for Reuters:

The rapid entry of Iraqi forces into central Falluja last week surprised many who expected a drawn-out battle with Islamic State for the bastion of Iraq's Sunni insurgency, where some of the toughest fighting of the U.S. occupation took place.

The campaign has offered Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi respite from a political crisis that paralyzed government and turned violent when demonstrators breeched Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone.

Yet questions remain about whether Abadi - who declared victory on Friday even though Islamic State militants are still fighting in Falluja - can convert those military gains into political success, and what kind of model Falluja offers for the next major military campaign, against Islamic State-held Mosul.

Abadi and his commanders, who have pledged to retake the northern Iraqi city later this year, "needed a fast victory because they are very aware of setting precedents," said Renad Mansour, an Iraq scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center.

But "Falluja was a distraction. The protests in Baghdad will come back. People will say, 'OK we got Falluja, what's happening politically? What are the changes?'"