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The battle to oust ISIS from the Iraqi city of Mosul is shaping-up to be long and bloody and brutal, but in the end somebody will declare victory.

And when that happens, experts say, it will likely be a mirage.

There will be no way of knowing for sure whether ISIS has been completely vanquished because it's a guerrilla group that's not going to wave the white flag, they say. And dislodging the jihadis could lead to more problems — like a holy war for control of this multi-ethnic, multi-religious city of 1.5 million.

Until recently, former governors Michael Dukakis and Bill Weld were the most high-profile champions for a seemingly quixotic quest to get the North South Rail Link built.

They’re well respected in Boston, but neither has much power in Washington these days.

That’s changed now that Representative Seth Moulton, the up-and-coming congressman from the North Shore, has called construction of the multibillion-dollar tunnel to connect North and South stations a top priority.

LYNN — Latasha Dobson knew the moment she toured the cobalt blue home for sale on Mountain Avenue that it was her dream house.

But the 116-year-old Colonial had one major problem: the interior was filled with lead-based paint, a hazard for her three children. The terms of the city’s first-time homebuyer program required deleading to close the deal on the four-bedroom home.

Congressman Seth Moulton pitched business leaders Wednesday morning on the North South Rail Link, a transportation project he said has the potential to transform Greater Boston.

"I believe this is the most significant infrastructure project contemplated for the New England area," Moulton, a freshman congressman from Salem, told a breakfast hosted by the New England Council. "It would be transformative and quite reasonable to do."

The remainder of the European Union may be distancing itself from Sweden’s campaign to declare American lobsters an invasive species, but the head of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association isn’t yet ready to declare complete victory.

“We’re very excited about the news out of Europe that the rest of the EU doesn’t seem ready to follow Sweden’s lead,” MLA Executive Director Beth Casoni said Monday. “But we’re going to stay on this because it’s not over by any stretch.”

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton wants the state to approve construction of a new rail tunnel below downtown Boston, but the mega-project is turning into a competition with another big rail expansion.

Moulton made his pitch to business and civic leaders for the North-South Rail Link, a tunnel that would connect North Station to South Station. That would allow trains to run all the way through Boston, instead of terminating on either side of downtown.

The European Union won’t ban our lobsters after all.

And the Massachusetts congressional delegation, which was previously concerned for its local lobsterers, is pretty psyched about the decision.