The US Coalitions bombing of Mosul University, killing over 100 students and academics was probably one of the more egregious moments of violence in a single event since the US Coalition airstrikes against ISIS started in August 2014. What was particularly shocking about this incident – even compared to the bombing of hospitals in ISIS territory – was the number of casualties inflicted upon a target which is a purely civilian target.
What prompted the US to target civilian infrastructure in such a ferocious manner?
According to this December 2014 policy report from the Brookings Institute, it is motivated by the need to reduce the effectiveness of ISIS’ administrative capabilities by:
a) Reducing it’s material capability to rule (finances, oil, men, equipment etc).
b) Reducing the perception that ISIS is a capable administrator by creating the impression that ISIS rule only leads to destruction and misery for the general civilian population, thereby turning the people against ISIS (ie, terror in the absolute sense of the word).
The result of these late 2014 policy recommendations in the face of ISIS’ imperviousness to the US’ airstrikes against its manpower, has resulted in the deliberate targetting of ISIS’ civilian infrastructure as a means to reduce its ability to effectively administrate its territories and to diminish any support it may enjoy in its civilian population by associating ISIS rule with hardship and destruction.
A prominent example of this occurring shortly after the recommendations from the Brookings Institute was the destruction of the Aisha hospital in AlbuKamal by US Coalition airstrikes:
There are many more prominent examples of civilian infrastructure being targetted in ISIS territory by the US Coalition. Many examples can be found on this website: http://airwars.org/civcas-2015/.
After the airstrikes on Mosul University, local sources within Mosul confirmed to us that recruitment to ISIS ranks from within Mosul city went up by thousands, and these reports came in from multiple different sources.
It is therefore the contention that the Brookings Institute guidelines being followed are in fact counterproductive to the US’ stated aim to destroy ISIS and create a groundswell of Sunni Arab opinion against ISIS as a means to combat it both physically and through ideology. Reports indicate the opposite is happening and that ISIS’ popularity only increases due to these policies. This has also resulted in a muted condemnation to ISIS recent attack on Brussels, with many formerly anti-ISIS media personalities barely reacting to what happened in Brussels. This is a worrying sign as it indicates that the US is losing the war of opinions and minds within the Sunni Arab region.
A wholesale revision of these policies are required and it is necessary to stop the targetting of civilian infrastructure as a matter of immediate priority.
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