Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

NatSecEdge
cipherbrief

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Rising Toll on Civilians Haunts Victories against ISIS

<p>Trump military</p>

The fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq is nearing its second major victory this year as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – an allied anti-ISIS militia umbrella group – close in on the last remaining pockets of ISIS forces in their self-proclaimed “capital” of Raqqa. The success of the SDF mission in Raqqa, combined with the group’s defeat in the Iraqi city of Mosul this July, will mark a major win for the Trump Administration’s military policy and signal that the end is near for ISIS’ physical “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.

However, these military gains have come at a cost. According to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), over 600 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes since the beginning of the war against ISIS in 2014, but the independent UK-based monitor Airwars claims that the number is actually more than 5,000, with nearly 60 percent of those deaths occurring since Donald Trump took office eight months ago.

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.
Save Your Seat

Related Articles

The U.S. Has 40,000 Troops in the Middle East

The U.S. Has 40,000 Troops in the Middle East

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING -- Recent U.S. strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities propelled the 40,000 American forces in the region into the spotlight [...] More

What Could Follow the U.S. Surprise in Syria?

What Could Follow the U.S. Surprise in Syria?

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – President Donald Trump made a number of headlines this week as he led an impressive delegation of government and private [...] More

U.S. Mission in Space: Maintaining Credibility to Deter

OPINION — “Space is a warfighting domain. Therefore, the Space Force cannot simply be a support element. It is our job to contest and control the [...] More

Supreme Leader Khamenei’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year

“Fate is a wheel that turns; in our pride, we sometimes forget how swiftly it can crush us beneath it.” - Attributed to Shah Ismail I, founder of the [...] More

Spies Who Come Out in the Summer

CHALK MARKS / OPINION — Intelligence officers in the CIA talk about three things when they are together in the field:How bad things are at [...] More

The Tragedy in Moscow Isn't Over Yet, says CIA's former Chief of Central Eurasia Division

The Tragedy in Moscow Isn't Over Yet, says CIA's former Chief of Central Eurasia Division

OPINION / EXPERT PERSPECTIVE – The death toll from last week’s terrorist attack inside a concert hall in a suburban Moscow neighborhood is now at [...] More