DAVID IGNATIUS From the heights here, you have a panoramic view of the strategic territory west of Mosul that Kurdish peshmerga fighters, supported by U.S. warplanes, have won back from the Islamic State over the past month. The main road linking Mosul with the Syrian border has been cut and nearly 100 square miles have been liberated. You can see the smoke of rockets fired from distant Islamic State positions and hear the thud of explosions.