The people of Mosul, Iraq, find there's life after Islamic State, but it isn't easy
MOSUL, Iraq - In the biblical book of Jonah, God wants to destroy the city of Nineveh because of its wickedness, but ultimately relents and spares it.
Today, what was once Nineveh is the eastern half of the Iraqi city of Mosul, where a version of the biblical story has played out again. In the siege that drove Islamic State militants from Mosul, the east side was largely spared.
The west side is an entirely different story.
If it were possible to stand at the center of the Tigris River where it bisects this ancient city, once the crown jewel of Islamic State's conquests, the view might bring to mind an oft-repeated cliche: Mosul has become a tale of two cities.
Looking east, you'd see crowded restaurants and "casinos," the riverside cafes where men suck on water pipes as they play cards with gusto.
The smoke of a dozen
