US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has criticised her Republican counterpart Donald Trump for saying that the week-old effort to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the so-called Islamic State militant group was going badly.
"He's basically declaring defeat before the battle has even started," Mrs Clinton said at a campaign event in New Hampshire.
"He's proving to the world what it means to have an unqualified commander in chief."
In a tweet on Sunday, Mr Trump, the Republican nominee for the 8 November election, said the "attack on Mosul is turning out to be a total disaster. We gave them months of notice. US is looking so dumb".
Iraqi and Kurdish forces, backed by the United States, have mounted a huge assault on the area surrounding the city, the last stronghold of Islamic State forces in Iraq.
They have retaken about 80 Islamic State-held villages and towns since the offensive was launched on 16 October, but have yet to move on the city itself.
Mr Trump reiterated his position during a rally yesterday in St Augustine, Florida, where he also urged supporters to vote early and declared his campaign was winning the election.
"So now we're bogged down in Mosul. The enemy is much tougher than they thought. They've had a lot of time to get ready," Mr Trump said.
"It's a horrible, horrible situation that's going on. Why did we have to tell them we're going in?"
The operation could last weeks, or even months.
Islamic State mounted counterattacks yesterday across the country against the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces, trying to deflect attention away from the Mosul campaign.
Mr Trump suggested last week during the final 2016 presidential debate that the US-backed attack on Mosul was orchestrated to help Mrs Clinton in her White House bid.
He thinks that because he has a mouthful of Tic Tacs that he can force himself on any woman within groping distance.
With just over two weeks to go until the election, Mrs Clinton, President Barack Obama's first-term secretary of state, leads the New York businessman in national opinion polls.
Both candidates have been focusing on a small set of political swing states that could decide the contest.
Seeking to cement a wide advantage she holds with women voters, Mrs Clinton enlisted the help of US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who blasted Mr Trump over allegations he tried to grope or kiss several women without their consent over a 20-year span.
"He thinks that because he has a mouthful of Tic Tacs that he can force himself on any woman within groping distance," Ms Warren told a raucous crowd of 4,000 at St Anselm College in Manchester.
"Well, I've got news for you, Donald Trump. Women have had it with guys like you."
At least ten women have said Mr Trump made unwanted sexual advances, including groping or kissing, in incidents from the early 1980s to 2007.
Mr Trump has denied the women's allegations, calling them "totally and absolutely false" and promising on Saturday he would sue his accusers.
Ms Warren's mention of Tic Tacs referred to a moment in a 2005 video that surfaced earlier this month in which Mr Trump was heard boasting about groping and kissing women.
She also referred to Mr Trump calling Mrs Clinton "a nasty woman" at last week's debate, a phrase that quickly spread on social media, sparking hashtags and T-shirts.
"Get this, Donald, nasty women are tough," Ms Warren said.
"Nasty women are smart. And nasty women vote. And on November 8 we nasty women are gonna march our nasty feet to cast our nasty votes to get you out of our lives forever."
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