US Aimed to Destroy Rather Than Liberate Iraq's Mosul – Analyst

In an interview with Sputnik, Iranian political commentator Emad Abshenas addressed the ever-deteriorating situation in Mosul, which was liberated by the US-led coalition back in July 2017, specifically pointing out Washington's reluctance to focus on fighting Daesh.
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Emad Abshenas, an Iranian political analyst and editor-in-chief of the Iran Press newspaper, referred to history, which he said showed that when conducting any military operation, the US unfortunately resorts to "crushing actions and the murder of innocent people and civilians."

"They use humanitarian slogans and appeals with respect to themselves rather than the other citizens of the world. The US committed crimes against humanity in Syria's Raqqa, as well as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq and other countries, something that is not covered by the major media outlets controlled by Washington," Abshenas said.

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He recalled that "the Western mainstream media outlets not only never write about such crimes but also resort to very strict censorship and information filters."

Abshenas lamented the fact that Mosul "to some extent suffered the fate of Raqqa, where some residential areas were leveled to the ground by the US military in a bid to destroy Daesh militants."

"When becoming the US President, Trump decided to once again demonstrate his country's international clout. He did so by destroying, not liberating, Mosul," Abshenas emphasized.

In this vein, he referred to the "brilliant victories" of Russia, Iran and Syria in the struggle against the terrorist organization Daesh, which was not the case with the international coalition led by the United States, which failed to conduct an effective antiterrorist operation in Iraq over the past five years.

"The coalition had every opportunity to succeed in the fight against Daesh but instead they almost levelled Mosul to the ground, not sparing either children or women. Moreover, they did their best to prevent anyone from entering this city to make a report about the real shocking situation there or bury the dead," Abshenas said.

He also referred to "a more shocking fact" about "the US evacuating Daesh leaders and other terrorists from the cities" to start the so-called "liberation operation" in order to conceal "traces of jihadists."

"Regrettably, the international community does not duly react to these actions. The UN, which is tasked with ensuring peace and security throughout the world, has become a real prisoner of US policy and does not take proper and full measures to save civilians in the areas of combat operations," Abshenas pointed out.

Referring to the UN, he did not rule out the creation of a replacement union or organization which "could act in the interests of humanity rather than those of the US and which could fully fulfill its humanitarian and peacekeeping mission."

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Aerial footage recently showed complete devastation and destruction in Mosul following coalition bombings to retake the second largest Iraqi city, which was completely liberated from Daesh terrorists in July 2017.

According to UN figures, at least 2,521 civilians were killed and 1,673 more wounded during the campaign launched by Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition.

Earlier this week, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a press release that "as many as 750,000 children in Mosul and the surrounding areas are struggling to access basic health services."

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.

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