Watch: Fighting Alongside Iraqi Special Forces-The Road to Fallujah

As you know, the Iraqi Forces have already entered the boundaries of Fallujah. This video leads you to the battle of Fallujah as VICE News is embedded with the Golden Division or Iraqi Special Forces as they liberated villages surrounding the city of Hit. Specifically, they follow Major Salam, the commander of the Golden Division, as he wins the hearts and minds of the local sheiks in order to obtain actionable intelligence against Islamic State and their supporters. The city of Hit is vital as it is a major supply route to ISIS. On the final assault to Hit, the convoy of special forces is met with sniper fire, RPGs, and heavy machine gun fire and yet the retake the city from ISIS.

When the soldiers are asked what will happen when ISIS is soon defeated in the next year, they respond knowingly that the Iraqi police and the militias will pick up the fighting again. Major Salam is very clear that defeating ISIS is more about fighting the ideology than it is using military forces. The VICE reporter urges the Iraqi government to stop marginalizing the Sunni in the al Anbar province in order to eliminate the radical ideology from spreading again.

Image courtesy of wsj