‘We are like the living dead’: Citizens of Mosul in despair 1.5 years after liberation from ISIS

A Woman walks next to ruins in the Old City of Mosul 

Chaos and misery – that’s what life in Mosul is like more than 1.5 years after Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition staged one of the deadliest battles in decades to liberate the city from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).

What was once Iraq’s second-largest city and home to millions was reduced to ash in July 2017, when the US-led coalition dropped bombs and recaptured it from IS. More than 10,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in the battle.

Thousands of dead bodies are still buried under the rubble amid the lack of recovery crews and equipment. Locals say fraud and corruption are halting the process.

“You can’t even imagine how difficult it is – no hospitals, no schools, no teachers. We are like the living dead. We have a cemetery over there, but here it’s a cemetery for the living. Pot holes are everywhere, there are still corpses everywhere and if anyone brings humanitarian aid here, the local officials just steal it, they are all corrupt,” a Mosul resident told RT.

There’s no reconstruction here, all their reconstruction efforts are just ink on paper.

There are fears that IS could return to the city and use the corruption and chaos to re-emerge. The US-led coalition spent billions of dollars when it bombed Mosul, but when it was done, it didn’t cash out on rebuilding.

 “There are no basic services in the city, no jobs – it’s terrible,” one local resident said. “We’re here battling all the hardships. We now regret that we ever came back.”

Meanwhile, nearly 2 million Iraqis remain displaced, according to UN estimates. Nearly 700,000 of them are from Mosul.

 © Reuters / Khalid al-Mousily

Reference:

https://www.rt.com/news/451163-mosul-after-isil-reconstruction-chaos/

‘We are like the living dead’: Citizens of Mosul in despair 1.5 years after liberation from ISIS

A Woman walks next to ruins in the Old City of Mosul 

Chaos and misery – that’s what life in Mosul is like more than 1.5 years after Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition staged one of the deadliest battles in decades to liberate the city from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).

What was once Iraq’s second-largest city and home to millions was reduced to ash in July 2017, when the US-led coalition dropped bombs and recaptured it from IS. More than 10,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in the battle.

Thousands of dead bodies are still buried under the rubble amid the lack of recovery crews and equipment. Locals say fraud and corruption are halting the process.

“You can’t even imagine how difficult it is – no hospitals, no schools, no teachers. We are like the living dead. We have a cemetery over there, but here it’s a cemetery for the living. Pot holes are everywhere, there are still corpses everywhere and if anyone brings humanitarian aid here, the local officials just steal it, they are all corrupt,” a Mosul resident told RT.

There’s no reconstruction here, all their reconstruction efforts are just ink on paper.

There are fears that IS could return to the city and use the corruption and chaos to re-emerge. The US-led coalition spent billions of dollars when it bombed Mosul, but when it was done, it didn’t cash out on rebuilding.

 “There are no basic services in the city, no jobs – it’s terrible,” one local resident said. “We’re here battling all the hardships. We now regret that we ever came back.”

Meanwhile, nearly 2 million Iraqis remain displaced, according to UN estimates. Nearly 700,000 of them are from Mosul.

 © Reuters / Khalid al-Mousily

Reference:

https://www.rt.com/news/451163-mosul-after-isil-reconstruction-chaos/

Santa Claus among the ruins of Mosul (Iraq)

Mosul a 2 million people prosperous city before the war is today a pale image of itself.  It was utterly destroyed, very few buildings standing up, many people died and fled.  In the Mosul ruins some well intentioned persons disguised as Santa Claus are searching for children to give them some toys.

From rt.com:

“Men dressed as Santa Claus walking through a ruined city may seem like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie, but that’s how Christmas looks in Mosul, a former IS stronghold leveled to the ground in a US-backed liberation op.

Two Iraqis packed their bags with small but colorful gifts and took to Mosul’s Old City to bring some joy to the local children, who’ve seen so much suffering during the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) rule and the brutal anti-terrorist campaign in the city a year and a half ago.

But, as the Santas made their way around the destroyed homes and mosques with bullet ridden walls, they had problems finding the kids they could give presents to in the desolated streets. And those youngsters that they eventually happened-upon, seemed more baffled by the unexpected act of kindness itself than by actually being handed a ball or a small doll.

Some reconstruction efforts are underway in Mosul, but this, so far, feels like a drop in the bucket seen against the enormous damage delivered to what used to be one of the major cities in northern Iraq. And the West, which invested heavily in Mosul’s destruction, doesn’t seem too eager to help.

The chaotic battle for Mosul, which was Islamic State’s de facto capital in the country, lasted from October 2016 to July 2017 and saw the city nearly reduced to rubble.

The US-led coalition, which supported Iraqi government forces from the air, had been bombing Mosul despite terrorists’ use of civilians as human shields, while many were trapped in the besieged city with no humanitarian corridors provided for their escape.

The civilian casualties were immense as the Americans and their allies faced accusations from human rights groups of neglecting civilian lives and of indiscriminate bombings. The UN said at least 2,521 have been killed, adding that the figure should be considered an “absolute minimum.” An investigation by National Public Radio (NPR) revealed that the Mosul morgue had issued 4,865 death certificates during the battle, while AP estimated the civilian death toll between 9,000 and 11,000 people."

Who benefits from the battle of Mosul

Reflections on the ever-worsening violent battle of Mosul.
Danilo Anton

"Liberating"  Mosul control from the hands of the cruel and sadistic ISIL (Islamic Army of Iraq and Levant).
In this offensive, nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to miss the possible territorial and political rewards that can be obtained after the capture of the city.  In short, those who hope to benefit are:
1) The government of Iraq, predominantly Shiite, trying to regain control of Iraqi territory. This government is very weak because of what is left after the clumsy and bloody invasion of the US and its closest allies (UK, Aznar's Spain, and the oil kingdoms).

2) The Kurds, stateless people, who already have an oil-rich territory based in Erbil and they are looking to extend their enclave. With its powerful army of Peshmerga, including women, they have become a difficult power to challenge. They already control Kirkuk (where Kurds are not the majority) and aspire to extend their territory to the banks of the Tigris River (where the city of Mosul is located).
3) Iran, which has great influence on the Iraq government itself in shiite Iraq and controls various Shiite paramilitary groups involved in the battle.

4) US and its allies that bombard with little precision but want to maintain their influence. The US and its allies support the Kurds and Iraqi government and have a limited presence on the ground. Its main benefit is to sell weapons.

5) Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies who financed Al Qaeda and ISIL and are now funding the "rebel" jihadists in Syria. They are present trying to avoid the growing influence of Iran and the Shiites.
6) Turkey, which is between a rock and a hard place. It started participating in the battles but risks that the strengthening of the Kurds may affect their control of their own Kurdish provinces in the southeast of the country.

7) Russia, which is embarking on the war in Syria, defending the Assad government and its port facilities in Tartus. Russia has a strategic alliance with Iran, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" and considers this battle an opportunity to eliminate jihadism in Syria and in their own territory (p. Ej..en Chechnya). 

8) The interests of corporations producing weapons in the US who can sell their products.
9) Israel, which covertly tried to help promote jihadism in Syria (against the Assad government) observes with satisfaction as the Arab states weaken each other by fighting.
10) Al Qaeda and other Sunni jihadist organizations that will benefit from the defeat of their opponent within Islamic fundamentalism. Many fighters will end up moving to these groups already present in Syria, Iraq, Libya and other Arab and/or Muslim countries.
The main losers in this battle, as in other wars that develop in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Libya, are civilians who are the victims. Hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries, destruction, incalculable and irreparable economic losses. Despite the blood, the war continues.
More info on the book "Land of little rain and plenty of blood," D.Antón, Piriguazú Editions, claim indantonster@gmail.com

Mosul, from diversity and tolerance to dogmatic fanaticism and ruthless war
Danilo Anton

Mosul is a city in Iraq capital of the province (Governorate) of Nineveh, on the west bank of the Tigris River in a semidesert area, where the river is being used for irrigated agricultural production, particularly through the damming of the fluvial water. The city is also near oil fields of high productivity.
Before the occupation by the ISIS there were about two and a half million people. From the population point of view is the second largest city in Iraq, the most important of the northern region (400 km from Baghdad). Is the heir to the ancient city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire in the first millennium B.C. whose ruins are on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, now covered by the metropolitan growth of Mosul.
Until recently, only a few decades, Mosul and the surrounding area had an ethnically and religiously diverse population. Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, Kurds, Turkmen, Yazidis, Shabakis, Mandaeans, kawliyas, Circassians and other ethnic minorities who lived a peaceful coexistence in the city. There were also several religious orientations: Sunni, Salafi, Shi'a, Sufi, Christian Armenians and Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabakites,Yarsanites and Mandaeistes. The once large Jewish community had emigrated (mostly to Israel) from the 1950s due to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Once ISIS arrived, with its policies of persecution and intolerance, in 2014, more than half a million people fled the city, the rest was prisoner of a dogmatic regime, deeply intolerant and cruel.
Now, finally, after many hesitations and diplomatic discussions, a large army is advancing on the city. The invading forces include the Iraqi government, Kurdish peshmerga and other allies, with air support from the US and Western European countries. Surely thecity will finally conquered but not without fighting bloody battles for control of all its neighborhoods. Probably, like Homs and Aleppo in Syria, Mosul will be destroyed, reduced to ruins.
In a few decades, the city where a great diversity of ethnicities, religions and cultures, with varied customs lived in peace, has become a place of dogmatism, perverse intolerance, war and destruction.
More info at daniloanton@blogspot.com and in the book "Tierras de Pocas Lluvias y Mucha Sangre" (order in dantonster@gmail.com).