In the devastated and deserted area of the Iraqi Mosul people still make heaps. Rescuers are working in masks to protect themselves from the stench, and anxious relatives desperate, losing hope to find their missing loved ones.
All the details of what happened in the Mosul area of al-Jadideh, have not yet been clarified, but the loss is obvious. The journalist of the edition of The New York Times was covering, bumping into charred human limbs, which are still remnants of clothes, and beside her stood a man, holding a plaque with 27 names of their dead or missing relatives.
In General, the number of civilians killed in an air RAID on this densely populated area of the forces the US-led coalition, may be 200 or more. Military acknowledged the attack, but said that the investigation in connection with death of civilians is still continuing. If the allegations are true, then this attack will definitely be the most monstrous act of attack on innocent people over the last few decades.
The bloodshed occurred against the backdrop of attempts by the US and their Iraqi allies to retake Mosul, the second largest city of Iraq, the “Islamic state” or ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in Russia — approx. ed.).
Because of this, life turns to horror they’ve endured years of atrocities of members of ISIL, and now fell under the bombs of American aircraft — and may become victims of human rights violations by the Iraqi soldiers, they don’t trust. “Now it seems that coalition forces are killing more people than ISIS,” said one of the residents of the city the journalist of the British newspaper Telegraph.
Unfortunately, it’s probably not so far from the truth. According to the online resource AirWars, which tracks civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria, only in March recorded over 1,300 cases of civilian casualties from coalition air strikes. This is almost three times more than in February.
Moreover, according to estimates of the AirWars, the number of civilian casualties in the air strikes inflicted by the coalition forces led by the United States, now more than in the air strikes Russia, which loudly (and justifiably) accused of war crimes when she was bombing Syria’s Aleppo last year.
Maybe it’s just the fighting that erupted in Mosul? Not really.
In the same month, was reported killed at least 30 civilians in an airstrike of U.S. coalition forces near the Syrian city of raqqa (where the real battle with the forces of ISIS hasn’t even started yet), and about 50 civilians may have died when the United States bombed a mosque in Aleppo.
However, some observers suspect that the administration trump weakens rules and regulations that were in effect when Obama and designed to reduce civilian casualties in war zones. Officials deny this, but according to the publication Times now (in contrast to earlier practice), the command of combat units, apparently, expands the zone of airstrikes in densely populated areas.
During the election campaign by trump, as you know, promised to “deal” with ISIS and “beat the shit out of him”. It sounds harsh, but there it is.
But this is only slightly different from the strategy of the Obama administration, aimed at the gradual expansion of our air wars secret from the public. Trump just raised this strategy to a new level, providing acceptance of almost all key foreign policy decisions to the military while depleting the resources for diplomatic purposes and humanitarian assistance.
Related human losses will be huge. And political also.
The United States has for decades “beat the shit” out of Iraq than to consistently generate more terrorists than they kill. Extremists in Iraq are flourishing. What can be said about the civilians who now bury their dead relatives and friends in Mosul.
No doubt, ISIS is guilty in their own countless atrocities. But the sectarian politics of civil wars that gave birth to this organization is the direct result of a “militarized” foreign policy. And hoped that as a result of turning Iraqi cities into ruins extremism in their ashes will be less, there is simply no reason.
The Iraqis will still have to retake their country from ISIS. But if this country ever get back on my feet, it needed a political solution. This would require a substantial increase in aid, diplomatic work and need honest broker — all of which is very lacking.
