American-backed forces have largely driven the Islamic State from Raqqa, above. The big question is who will rule it next. Credit Ivor Prickett for The New York Times
Kyle Rempfer, Military Times: Why US troops ‘flattened’ Raqqa and Mosul, and why it may herald an era of ‘feral city’ warfare
The U.S. military’s biggest successes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria involved uprooting the militants first from Mosul, Iraq, and then Raqqa, Syria.
But those operations are also catching the most flak for what many human rights groups and international organizations viewed as a callous use of artillery and air power that killed too many civilians.
The battles, as terrible as they were, serve as an important bellwether that may mark a new era of urban warfare involving mega-cities, according to retired Army Maj. John W. Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute.
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WNU Editor: Urban warfare has always resulted in massive destruction and loss of life. The only difference now is that the cities are much bigger.
