US Allied Deadly Strike on Mosul Killing Civilians

8 Comments

1. 

   Marie3 on March 25, 2017 at 7:49 pm

   These investigations always get stretched out long enough that those paying attention have since moved on to several other atrocities/outrages and lack the energy to make any noise about the event covered by the investigation.  

   Kunduz MSF hospital airstrike  Six months after the fact, a report was issued and claimed it was an accident.  It’s always an accident on the part of the US military unless they can find a convenient low level scapegoat.

2. 

   ishmael2 on March 25, 2017 at 11:42 pm

   I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump has loosened the Rules of Engagement governing military force.  Then again, mass casualty events still happened in the previous 8 years.  

   Russian and Syrian indiscriminate killing of civilians, which directly caused much of the refugee crisis and influx into Europe, has been much more common but oddly under-reported here.

   The left will focus once more on Iraq and Yemen now that a Republican is in the White House.

   • 

     Oui on March 26, 2017 at 3:21 am

     “Russian and Syrian indiscriminate killing of civilians, which directly
     caused much of the refugee crisis and influx into Europe …”

     I see you fell for the UK/US propaganda machine of the Syrian civil war:

     Role of Erdogan’s Turkey and open border policy for ISIL/Sunni jihadists/Islamic State fighters
     Obama administration use of ISIL out of Iraq as proxy to put militant pressure on the Syrian Army of Assad (DIA report)
     Delivery of tens of thousands of tons arms and munition from Libya to Syria though Turkey, thanks to Qatar and KSA
     Russian intervention started in September 2015 after over 400,000 deaths, and the millions of displaced persons!
     After six months Russian intervention sharp downturn in overall deaths in Syria

     Just unbelievable how big the gap is between Americans abroad and domestic citizens getting spoon fed  the propaganda from the White House and US mass media …

     ○ US government spent over $500m on fake Al-Qaeda propaganda videos that tracked location of viewers

     • 

       ishmael2 on March 26, 2017 at 9:36 am

       Oui, I don’t make a habit of regurgitating Russian (or US/UK) propaganda in my posts but I don’t care about convincing you, of all people, regarding this.

       My point is that Russian and Syrian bombing of civilians, which they do intentionally as they do not care about civilian casualties, has helped with that crisis.  I do not absolve the US or Gulf countries for their role.

       You think there is a good side in this conflict and that’s why you justify these actions.  It’s looks hypocritical when you then focus critically on similar US actions.

       • 

         Oui on March 27, 2017 at 1:17 am

         An observer of facts …

         The west condemned Russia’s bombs – now coalition attacks are killing civilians in Mosul | The Guardian |

         America and the UK condemned Russian airstrikes that killed or injured hundreds of civilians during last autumn’s siege of Aleppo, accusing Vladimir Putin of war crimes. The question now is whether the US, backed by British air power, is committing similar atrocities against civilians in Mosul.

         Addressing the UN security council in September, Matthew Rycroft, Britain’s ambassador, said Russia had “unleashed a new hell” on Aleppo. “Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes,” he said. The US accused Putin of “barbarism”.

         Theresa May climbed aboard this righteous bandwagon in December, joining Barack Obama and European leaders in lambasting Russia for causing a humanitarian disaster that “is taking place before our very eyes”.

         Fast-forward to Mosul in northern Iraq last week, where misdirected US airstrikes caused a massive explosion that reportedly killed at least 150 civilians sheltering in a basement. The Americans say they were targeting Islamic State fighters. The Russians said much the same about Aleppo – that they were attacking jihadi terrorists. Many people, not least the relatives of the Mosul dead, will struggle to see the difference.

         ○ US ambassador Samantha Power blasts Assad regime, Russia, Iran at UN Security Council meeting
         ○ 62 dead, 100 wounded as US bombs Syrian army near Deir ez-Zor – Sept. 19, 2016 [Intent to derail the joint US-Russian-brokered ceasefire – Oui]
         ○ UK Confirms It Took Part in Airstrike in Deir ez-Zor When Syrian Army Was Bombed – Politico.eu

   • 

     seabe on March 26, 2017 at 8:19 am

     I don’t know. There’s been a lot of silence from the left with the indiscriminate bombing in Syria from US the entire time, focused on a non-existent regime change — so if there is a focus at all, it’s definitely to Yemen, even with Obama. What I’ve seen was a focus on Yemen because it fit the narrative they built (as Oui demonstrates in his comment) that Russia’s atrocities in Syria were in no way equivalent to US elsewhere, and Russia was “invited” so it’s ok. Because of this narrative they have built that Assad and Russia were just “going after terrorists”, they have ultimately accepted the War on Terror framework without admitting it. So now when US bombs in Syria in areas that Russia would normally be bombing, and now it’s silence.

     The NYT reports imply this is a result of the loosening of the rules, but we will see what the investigation says:

     “Before, Iraqi officers were highly critical of the Obama administration’s rules, saying that many requests for airstrikes were denied because of the risk that civilians would be hurt. Now, the officer said, it has become much easier to call in airstrikes. Some American military officials had also chafed at what they viewed as long and onerous White House procedures for approving strikes under the Obama administration.”

3. 

   Oui on March 28, 2017 at 3:14 am

   The data cited by Glenn Greewald are contested and his conclusion troublesome once you look beneath the graphs on the website of Airwars. It even stated on that webpage:

   At Airwars we’ve been modelling Coalition airstrike data since the start of operations in August 2014, enabling us to comprehensively model over time the war against Daesh. All of our graphs and tables are based on official data releases from the Coalition, and from individual member nations.

   …
   The term airstrike is imprecise. According to AFCENT, [webpages deleted – Oui] an average of 3.65 weapons were released by allied airstrike to October 2015, with allies admitting that multiple targets, aircraft actions and even locations might be labelled under any one `strike’ report.

   …
   The US, France, Canada and UK prefer to report the number of strikes their aircraft carry out. In contrast the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia all report the number of weapons released.

   …
   CJTF-OIR intermittently  issues overall figures for US and for allied strikes, for both Iraq and Syria.

   The situation in Mosul-East is much more difficult than the earlier conquest of Mosul-West due to high density of population and the citizens used by IS as human shields against allied airstrikes. Can only be compared to the Fallujah raid in 2004 or the final month of Russian/Syrian bombing of East-Aleppo before the liberation from rebels and jihadists. In Mosul the attacking Iraq Army is made up of a substantial number of Shia, the inhabitants of large swaths if the Islamic State are made up of Sunni population, many who at first collaborated with the forces called ISIL and originated in the Sunni triangle of Baghdad-Ramadi-Tikrit.

   A Reckless Disregard for Civilian Lives – Russian Bombing Campaign In Syria (2015)

   Database indicates over 1,000 civilians credibly reported killed in first three months of Russia’s air campaign in Syria

   Coalition double standards

   Members of the US-led Coalition have been forthright in condemning civilian fatalities from Russian
   airstrikes – citing NGOs and monitors in Syria in support. Yet similar evidence gathered by these
   same organisations – of civilian fatalities from Coalition strikes – has often been publicly ignored.
   State Department spokesman Mark C. Toner told reporters in December that “NGOs have reported
   that Russian airstrikes in Syria have killed hundreds of civilians, including first responders; hit medical
   facilities, schools, and markets; and led to the displacement of over 130,000 Syrians in October and
   the first half of November. Of course, we’re deeply, deeply concerned about these reports of high
   civilian casualties.”

   And UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has noted: “The Russians have been at it in Syria for a
   couple of weeks and independent reports estimate that they’ve killed several hundred people
   already.” Yet these same independent NGOs and casualty recorders have also identified hundreds
   of likely civilian deaths in Syria and Iraq from Coalition airstrikes – almost none of which have been
   acknowledged.

   ¹⁰ 'US State Department Daily Press Briefing,' December 29th 2015, at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2015/12/250902.htm
   ¹¹ Cited in 'Russia in Syria: Moscow air strikes 'have killed thousands of civilians' already, warns UK Defence Secretary', Charlie Cooper, The Independent, November 2nd 2015, at
   http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/russia-in-syria-moscow-air-strikes-have-killedth
   ousands-of-civilians-already-warns-uk-defence-a6698751.html

   Posted earlier in TarheelDem’s diary – Greenwald: Trump is Keeping an Enemy.

4. 

   Oui on March 29, 2017 at 1:52 am

   Trump’s Ramped-Up Bombing in Yemen Signals More Aggressive Use of Military | FP |

   More broadly, the expanded bombing in Yemen signals a more aggressive use of military force by the Trump administration against Islamist militants, from Syria to Afghanistan. The White House already has approved the deployment of Marines and special operations forces to Syria and a large-scale commando raid in Yemen.

   …
   Throughout 2016, the Pentagon continually briefed the White House on ways to get more aggressive with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, as they watched the group gain strength in their Yemeni strongholds. Those strikes didn’t happen, “but just because the clock ran out,” the official said.

   The Obama administration handed over plans for a stepped-up campaign to the incoming Trump team in January. There has been an immediate change in the tempo of operations. This reflects the new administration’s apparent preference for prompt military action over policy deliberations, and a more dominant role for the military in decision-making.

   That’s due in part to the stripped-down staffs at the White House, State Department, and Pentagon, where dozens of key posts remain empty or held on a temporary basis by more junior civil servants. Those empty desks have allowed commanders to secure a prompt green light for military operations in Yemen.

   ○ Counter-terrorism Pitfalls: What the U.S. Fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda Should Avoid