US Escalates Wars in Iraq, Syria, Yemen Amid Reports of Mass Casualties

FEATURING PHYLLIS BENNIS – The US has been accused of killing more than 200 civilians in Mosul, Iraq as a result of airstrikes against the Islamic State. Iraq’s Vice President Osama Nujaifi has dubbed the grim death toll, a “humanitarian disaster.” The US military has admitted that it conducted the air strikes but said they were carried out at the behest of the Iraqi military. There is currently an investigation into what happened. If confirmed, it would be the largest death toll from US strikes in years.

The Iraq news comes only days after US airstrikes were reported to have killed more than 30 civilians in Raqqa, Syria after hitting a school building. And, there are also reports of the US sharply escalating its involvement in Yemen.

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Phyllis Bennis, Director, New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, author of numerous books including Understanding Isis and the New Global War on Terror and Ending the US War in Afghanistan.