WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A US military spokesman said earlier this week that the United States was going to deploy an additional 200 to 300 more troops to Iraq to help with the offensive to liberate the city of Mosul.
"Certainly the long and slow slog that has been the retaking of Mosul has frustrated the US generals, and I think this frustration is playing out in increased attacks and force application, that is harming civilians and finishing the pretty much total destruction of Mosul," Kwiatkowski said on Tuesday.
"Beyond improved targeting and post-strike intelligence, capturing key members of Daesh that may have worked for the US in previous phases of the Iraq and Syria experience, and photos with remaining civilians in Mosul, I don’t think these troops have any purpose," Kwiatkowski said.
The city of Mosul has been effectively destroyed, the society that was east and west Mosul has been effectively displaced and impoverished, no city services remain, and the refugee crisis around the city apparently was not well planned for by either the Iraqi military, the US or the UN, Kwiatkowski claimed.
"The second largest city in Iraq and an oil producing region has basically been vacated by all minority religions, and is a blank slate for rebuilding. If US foreign policy is maintained in its current direction, the rebuilding of the city will be a new area for US military involvement and spending," she said.
"I’m concerned about what is happening: I think the destruction of Mosul and the lack of care for its former residents who have been scattered to the four winds over the past year indicate that the US and her allies intend to remake Mosul as a company town, so to speak," she said.
However, Kwiatkowski said this week’s troop deployment was likely focused on the immediate goals of providing better targeting for US air attacks on Mosul as well as better media handling on the aftermath of strikes that have severe collateral damage causing significant civilian casualties.
