Thursday, March 28, 2024 -
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Mosul’s anguish — and our own

recoil. And I am not even there. Mosul, finally liberated. ISIS, finally robbed of virtually all of its territory. ISIS’ caliphate, dead. “Islamic State in Syria,” no more. Some liberation. Like Dresden in WW II. Liberated from the Nazis, but only through its total destruction. Nazis, Nazi sympathizers, civilian non-sympathizers, women, children, buildings, parks, roads, dogs, in Dresden, all destroyed by indiscriminate Allied bombings — of everything. Homes, hospitals, you name it. Gone. The same for Mosul. I recoil, just from the picture. The cupolas of mosques, shot through with holes, their surfaces crumbling, the layers of plaster (or whatever it is whose identity the black-and-white photo does not disclose) falling every which way. Skeletal remains of multi-story buildings. At least, they still stand. Other […]
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IJN Executive Editor | [email protected]