Devastation in Raqqa raises questions about cost of victory
Source: Associated Press
By BASSEM MROUE and ZEINA KARAM
28 minutes ago
BEIRUT (AP) — Kurdish-led forces on Friday declared victory over the Islamic State group in Raqqa, the former “capital” of its self-proclaimed caliphate where militants had terrorized the population for four years — setting up a climactic last stand for the extremists in the last vestiges of territory they control.
But the spectacular devastation of the depopulated city raised questions about the cost of victory against a fanatical opponent and laid bare the difficulties of rebuilding areas where the jihadis put up a ferocious defense, leaving scorched earth and traumatized societies in their wake.
From Fallujah, Ramadi and Mosul in Iraq to Kobani, Manbij and Raqqa in Syria, protracted military campaigns that eventually succeeded in flushing out the militants have left behind a trail of destruction so vast that they appeared to have been undertaken with little regard for the day after.
The United Nations estimated in September that 80 percent of Raqqa, a once-vibrant metropolis on the Euphrates River, was uninhabitable as a result of the years of fighting and airstrikes. Associated Press drone footage taken Thursday showed bombed-out shells of buildings and heaps of concrete slabs piled on streets littered with destroyed cars. Entire neighborhoods were turned to rubble, with no sign of civilian life — testimony to the thousands of bombs dropped on the city mainly by U.S. warplanes.
Read more: https://apnews.com/d319a4a054bb448f924f439811d1f73b/Devastation-in-Raqqa-raises-questions-about-cost-of-victory
= new reply since forum marked as read
I remember that anytime chimpy says something reasonably credible or tries to rehabilitate his image. Same for the other bush regime war criminals.
Of course, I hope the chumpy admin doesn't outdo him by creating an even worse foreign policy fiasco somewhere, e.g. North Korea or Iran.
