Mosul and Aleppo

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

The liberal left narrative is that fighting terrorism begets more terrorism.  The jihadists, according to progressive conventional wisdom, are angry we are in the Middle East, and that's why ISIS exists, and why terrorism has visited Europe, and other parts of the world.

The European Union's security commissioner Julian King said: "The reconquest of the northern Iraqi IS stronghold Mosul can cause violent IS fighters to come back to Europe.

"This is a very serious threat that we have to prepare for," he told German newspaper Die Welt.

That is not how Islam works.  Islam is all about the will of Allah.  Terror attacks are in Europe and other parts of the world because Islam is determined to dominate the world.  When their numbers increase, or they are successful in their battles, they increase their efforts.  When their numbers decrease, or they face a number of defeats, then it is seen that moving forward may not be in the will of Allah, so they step back.  In other words, appeasement of Islam, or gifting them as we did with the disastrous Iran deal, emboldens Islamic terror.  Winning military victories against them causes Islam to retreat.  Fight them over there so that we don't have to fight them here.

During the Iraq war we fought to gain Mosul, and now we have to fight to gain it again. . . well, according to Obama, through Iraq fighters we are regaining it.  If we had kept forces in place, and ensured nothing like ISIS could rise, we wouldn't be in this mess.  ISIS would not exist if we had won decisively, and then kept a significant presence.  Instead, we drew the war out for years, and then telegraphed to the enemy our departure.  It was a gift to the jihadists, and they were emboldened by it.

The geography makes regaining Mosul a difficult task.  Iraqi forces with the Kurds cannot simply surround the city.  U.S. officials suspect ISIS will retreat to the west into a region they already control, as the push into Mosul continues.  While the forces are receiving guidance from American advisers, we are being assured that no U.S. troops are on the ground.

In the process of coalition forces entering Mosul, ISIS is slaughtering people on the way out. ISIS rounded up and killed 284 men and boys as Iraqi-led coalition forces closed in.  Mosul is ISIS's last major stronghold in Iraq.

Those killed were used as human shields against attacks.  ISIS dumped the corpses in a mass grave at the defunct College of Agriculture in northern Mosul.  The victims -- some of them children -- were all shot.

The Iraqi military launched a large offensive early Saturday to retake Hamdaniya which is nine miles southeast of Mosul. Iraqi troops are also advancing toward Tal Kayf six miles north of Mosul.  Air support was provided by the U.S. and other coalition members.

Meanwhile, in Aleppo, Syria, a top United Nations human rights official called the weeks long bombardment and siege of rebel-held parts of the city "crimes of historic proportions."  The Syrian city is in ruins.  The UN official calls it a "Slaughterhouse."

A UN resolution calls for an end to the bombing of Aleppo by Russian and Syrian airstrikes.  According to news sources an overwhelming majority of civilian casualties have come from Russian and Syrian airstrikes.  ISIS must be held accountable, as well.  Without their reign of terror, the airstrikes would not be occurring.  Despite the denial. the rebel groups in the area the Obama administration has been supporting are associated and allied with ISIS.

Britain has accused Russia of not solving the situation, but making it worse.  A current cease-fire has calmed the skies momentarily, but is not allowing local residents to flee.  The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura said, "From what I hear, people to not want to leave their places, they do not want to become refugees, they want to stay in their place."

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary