Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Iraqi and western coalition forces have gained the last holdout portion of the Old City of Mosul. Like the battle for Aleppo, and for Grozny before that, the city that was liberated is also in ruins, with many (so far uncounted) civilian dead.

An external view of Mosul's main hospital complex shows damage after it was retaken by Iraqi forces on July 4, 2017.

A victory to celebrate, but a traumatized people, and much to be restored. All of this because of GWB's 2003 invasion of Iraq, on a snipe hunt for WMD.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:

Obama/Hilliary created ISIS and gifted Mosul to them, to enslave the Mosul civilians to the ISIS terrorists.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Riverlove:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:

Obama/Hilliary created ISIS and gifted Mosul to them, to enslave the Mosul civilians to the ISIS terrorists.

---

Pure genius by Obama. By refusing to negotiate a S.O.F.A. with Iraq, he got the political cover he needed to pull all our troops out. Then came all the Muslim-on-Muslim carnage. Absolutely brilliant!

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Iraqi and western coalition forces have gained the last holdout portion of the Old City of Mosul. Like the battle for Aleppo, and for Grozny before that, the city that was liberated is also in ruins, with many (so far uncounted) civilian dead.

Mosul in Ruins



An external view of Mosul's main hospital complex shows damage after it was retaken by Iraqi forces on July 4, 2017.
MORE AT https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/07/mosul-in-ruins/532782/

A victory to celebrate, but a traumatized people, and much to be restored. All of this because of GWB's 2003 invasion of Iraq, on a snipe hunt for WMD.

---

Quote:

---

Airstrikes propel Mosul gains, despite toll on civilians

Iraqi forces say their recent territorial gains against the Islamic State group in Mosul's Old City have largely been propelled by airstrikes, despite a spike in allegations of civilian casualties and warnings from human rights groups of the dangers of using large munitions in the dense, highly-populated area.

As strikes pummeled the Old City Sunday, hundreds of civilians fled. Many were badly injured and had to be carried out over mounds of rubble by family members. Deeper inside the district, narrow alleyways were littered with bodies.

---

Quote:

---

The Observer view on civilian casualties in the battle against Isis

The long-sought victory over Isis, while evidently welcome, is coming at a terrible cost. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, chief war crimes investigator on the UN’s independent international commission of inquiry on Syria, said last week that US-led coalition airstrikes were devastating Raqqa’s civilian population.

“We note in particular that the intensification of airstrikes... has resulted not only in staggering loss of civilian life, but has also led to 160,000 civilians fleeing their homes and becoming internally displaced,” Pinheiro told the UN human rights council in Geneva. The commission says 300 civilians died in Raqqa province in the three months to 31 May. About 200 of these deaths reportedly occurred in an airstrike in March on the village of Mansoura, to which many displaced families had fled.

---

Quote:

---

Iraq: Alleged ISIS Families Sent to ‘Rehabilitation Camp’

Evictions, Detentions Amount to Collective Punishment



(Beirut) – Iraqi Security Forces have forcibly relocated at least 170 families with alleged Islamic State members to a closed “rehabilitation camp” east of Mosul, Human Rights Watch said today. Local authorities are also demanding the eviction of families thought to have ties to the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), many of whom have been the target of threats and attacks.

On June 19, Mosul’s district council issued a directive that so-called ISIS families should be sent to camps “to receive psychological and ideological rehabilitation, after which they will be reintegrated into society if they prove responsive to the rehabilitation program.” On July 9, authorities in Nineveh opened the first “rehabilitation camp” in Bartalla, 14 kilometers east of Mosul. Forced displacements and arbitrary detentions have been taking place in Anbar, Babil, Diyala, Salah al-Din, and Nineveh governorates, altogether affecting hundreds of families. Iraqi security and military forces have done little to stop these abuses, and in some instances participated in them.

“Iraqi authorities shouldn’t punish entire families because of their relatives’ actions,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “These abusive acts are war crimes and are sabotaging efforts to promote reconciliation in areas retaken from ISIS.”

On July 11, Human Rights Watch visited Bartalla camp, where 150 families, mostly women and children from areas of west Mosul, were being held. The camp received another 20 families by the next day. Human Rights Watch interviewed 14 families, each with up to 18 members.

New residents said that Iraqi Security Forces had brought the families to the camp and that the police were holding them against their will because of accusations that they had relatives linked to ISIS. None said they had been accused of any wrongdoing themselves. They did not know when they would be allowed to leave.

The camp had a mobile medical clinic, but only very limited humanitarian services were being provided, with no education, training, or other programs. Medical workers at the camp said that at least 10 women and children had died traveling to or at the camp, most because of dehydration. The camp is managed by local authorities and draws funding and support from the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration.

Human Rights Watch witnessed ethnic Shabak fighters from an Iraqi government Popular Mobilization Forces unit manning a checkpoint outside the camp. A Mosul emergency police unit stood guard at the camp entrance. Despite the absence of adult men in many of the families, no female police officers were evident, raising concerns about vulnerability to gender-based violence. Camp officials said that at least 20 unaccompanied children were at the camp, all under 12, who had been settled into tents with larger families.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Since you all trust Human Rights Watch, here is some of what they have to say about Iraq

Quote:

---

Iraq: Alleged ISIS Families Sent to ‘Rehabilitation Camp’

Evictions, Detentions Amount to Collective Punishment



(Beirut) – Iraqi Security Forces have forcibly relocated at least 170 families with alleged Islamic State members to a closed “rehabilitation camp” east of Mosul, Human Rights Watch said today. Local authorities are also demanding the eviction of families thought to have ties to the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), many of whom have been the target of threats and attacks.

On June 19, Mosul’s district council issued a directive that so-called ISIS families should be sent to camps “to receive psychological and ideological rehabilitation, after which they will be reintegrated into society if they prove responsive to the rehabilitation program.” On July 9, authorities in Nineveh opened the first “rehabilitation camp” in Bartalla, 14 kilometers east of Mosul. Forced displacements and arbitrary detentions have been taking place in Anbar, Babil, Diyala, Salah al-Din, and Nineveh governorates, altogether affecting hundreds of families. Iraqi security and military forces have done little to stop these abuses, and in some instances participated in them.

“Iraqi authorities shouldn’t punish entire families because of their relatives’ actions,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “These abusive acts are war crimes and are sabotaging efforts to promote reconciliation in areas retaken from ISIS.”

On July 11, Human Rights Watch visited Bartalla camp, where 150 families, mostly women and children from areas of west Mosul, were being held. The camp received another 20 families by the next day. Human Rights Watch interviewed 14 families, each with up to 18 members.

New residents said that Iraqi Security Forces had brought the families to the camp and that the police were holding them against their will because of accusations that they had relatives linked to ISIS. None said they had been accused of any wrongdoing themselves. They did not know when they would be allowed to leave.

The camp had a mobile medical clinic, but only very limited humanitarian services were being provided, with no education, training, or other programs. Medical workers at the camp said that at least 10 women and children had died traveling to or at the camp, most because of dehydration. The camp is managed by local authorities and draws funding and support from the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration.

Human Rights Watch witnessed ethnic Shabak fighters from an Iraqi government Popular Mobilization Forces unit manning a checkpoint outside the camp. A Mosul emergency police unit stood guard at the camp entrance. Despite the absence of adult men in many of the families, no female police officers were evident, raising concerns about vulnerability to gender-based violence. Camp officials said that at least 20 unaccompanied children were at the camp, all under 12, who had been settled into tents with larger families.

---

MORE AT
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/07/13/iraq-alleged-isis-families-sent-re
habilitation-camp

-----------

"Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor"- William Blake
THUGR, JONESING FOR WWIII
All those guns 1kiki, are pointed towards your beloved Russia. All those cyber capabilities, pointed right at Russia. Thanks Putin, and get ready to duck.
I'll accept your apology any time, THUGR. But I know you're not man enough to give me one

---

Quote:

---

This will be a shit storm for years to come, so news from Iraq will be, well, shitty.

Speaking of Human Rights violations - this will not be pretty, from any faction. No one will be untouched. And yes, thanks to W and his all-star goons for this lovely, messy shit sandwich. EVERYONE is taking a huge bite. EVERYONE!

I hope Cheney, I mean Lord Vader, sleeps well. He deserves special mention, along with 'laughing boy' Rumsfeld. I know, I know - Hillary is to blame as well, lest we forget. But I just wanted to give those scumbags their due.

---