U.S. Airstrikes Killing More Civilians in Syria

Date: 30 July 2016 - 21:07

News ID: ۲۹۳۸۷

By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

According to the Pentagon officials and latest media reports, U.S. airstrikes continue to kill defenceless civilians in northern  Syria, particularly in and around the city of Manbij, which has been a major target of U.S. strikes over the past two months.
Overall, the U.S. strikes have killed well over 300 civilians since the offensive began in May.
Human rights groups have warned that the number of civilians killed in the area is "rising dramatically,” and demand tedhat the U.S.-led coalition "stop targeting neighbourhoods with civilians,” saying such attacks aren’t acceptable even if ISIL fighters are present.
This is while according to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy adviser, she would order a "full review” of the Syrian war as her first task upon taking office, with an eye toward a "reset” of the conflict to shift focus toward attacking the Assad government and imposing regime change.
Syria has been the subject of a lot of debate in the Obama Administration, with the Pentagon seeking a focus on ISIL, the CIA wanting to shift entirely to fighting President Assad, and Secretary of State John Kerry negotiating a deal with Russia to expand the war to include Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front.
The Obama Administration has already been steadily escalating the war since it began, to little effect, and Clinton’s policy would be that, just more so:
-The high civilian death toll is not going to change the terrible situation on the ground. The Pentagon might admit its air war has killed civilians, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the beheading-friendly alliance will stop the bombing campaign any time soon.
-Non-combatant deaths have been going on for months and the U.S. military’s admission ignores widely available evidence. Despite the denial, images and details of civilian deaths circulating on social media suggest the attacks have killed a large number of civilians. Watchdog groups warn that many more civilian casualties have gone uncounted.
-The coalition has carried out several thousand airstrikes, in thesis to "degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIL. Yet the terrorist group is still there, and even if it is destroyed, the Clinton advisors say the "Assad-must-go” mob will extend the air campaign to push for regime change in Damascus.
-Most residential areas being bombed are occupied by ISIL - many of them mercenaries, lavishly supported by assorted wealthy Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia and across the Persian Gulf. As a consequence, civic society has collapsed and local people live in fear of retaliation for speaking out. Even so, evidence linking the coalition to non-combatant deaths is compelling – which the Pentagon has now conceded.
Altogether, the U.S-led air war has failed. Iraq and Syria are still in ruins and more strikes will only make the current situation worse. A better option would be for the regime changers to reverse policy, pack up and leave. Syria has what it takes to defeat the foreign-backed terror machine on its own.