astronomical cost for the country. we have that in the spotlight because of the investigations being carried out by the u.s. and iraqis into whether or not a number of strikes may have caused civilian casualties. the bottom line, david, this is a battlefield. and it is arguably one of the toughest battlefields in modern history because not only do you have an enemy that is as vicious and experienced and sophisticated as isis you have the iraqi security forces trying to dislodge them from a city that had a population of around 1.2 million people before this operation began. and isis did not allow the population to leave. they effectively held them all as human shields. when we were down in western mosul yesterday we were able to speak to the handful of civilians that we saw there and they described sheer terror as the force were advancing. they tried to keep themselves safe. they tried to stay away from the bombs and bullets and the