In its annual report on US coalition bombings in Syria/Iraq, Airwars estimated 6,000 civilians were killed by missiles and bombs funded by US taxpayers. Airwars noted a huge increase in bombings and civilian deaths under the Trump administration.
Non-combatant deaths from Coalition air and artillery strikes rose by more than 200 per cent compared to 2016, rising to between 3,923 and 6,102 civilians estimated killed during the year according to Airwars tallies. By another measure, roughly 65% of all civilian deaths from Coalition actions tracked by our team since 2014 occurred over the last 12 months. This unprecedented death toll coincided with the start of the Trump presidency, and suggested in part that policies aimed at protecting civilians had been scaled back under the new administration. [...]
Following the capture of Mosul, Airwars monitored heavy civilian death tolls in Raqqa. Hundreds of children were reported killed in the first months of fighting there. In a feature jointly published with Foreign Policy, Airwars drew attention to troubling comments made by the Coalition’s then-commander Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, leading to a rare and lengthy public response by the General.
Airwars monitoring of the campaign in Raqqa continued to show major death tolls. In August, 10 times more munitions were fired in the city than for all of Afghanistan. In October after the city’s fall, Airwars published estimates for civilian deaths in Raqqa that far exceeded anything the Coalition has so far admitted to.
Airwars monitoring of Russian allegations also continued through the year, and in the Fall they were blamed for a sharp rise in civilian deaths during fighting in Deir Ezzor. — airwars.org/...
The Washington Post has been covering the Airwars reporting quite consistently. But that is not true for the rest of the US media, which has largely ignored civilian casualties from US bombings.
Middle East civilian deaths have soared under Trump. And the media mostly shrug.
“The media has unfortunately been so distracted by the chaos of the Trump administration and allegations of the president’s collusion with Russia that it’s neglected to look closely at the things he’s actually doing already,” said Daphne Eviatar, a director of Amnesty International USA.
That includes, she said, “hugely expanding the use of drone and airstrikes, including outside of war zones, and increasing civilian casualties in the process.” [...]
“As someone whose job it is to, essentially, read every article I can find on the U.S. drone war and the consequences, I can’t help but feel disheartened when some former campaign aide’s public breakdown garners drastically more coverage on the same day as a story about how the U.S. killed 150 civilians after they repeatedly bombed a school in Syria,” said Allegra Harpootlian of ReThink Media, a nonprofit communications organization.
— www.washingtonpost.com/...
Under Trump’s command, the US military has become even more opaque than it already was about its campaign of bombing across the Middle-East, Asia and Africa. This is in keeping with the Trump administration’s penchant for secrecy and bad faith.
— @subirgrewal
