REPORT: Trump Killed More Civilians with One Drone Strike than Obama did in Eight Years

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Two-Hundred Dead in Mosul ‘Humanitarian Disaster’

The strike represents a profound escalation of conflict under President Trump. Casualties include women and children.

The Trump Administration killed some 200 civilians, including women and children, during a drone strike in Mosul. Iraqi Vice President Osama Nujaifi has called the incident a “humanitarian disaster”. Citizens of several Middle Eastern nations, such as Iraq and Syria, have lived in fear of the airstrikes since they were first deployed by the Bush administration and escalated under Obama.

By way of comparison, the Obama administration is estimated to have killed 117 innocent civilians over the course of eight years, according to one report. Independent groups such as Airwars estimate a much higher total death toll from coalition airstrikes, numbering up to 3,000.

United Nations officials said they were “profoundly concerned” by the attack in Mosul. In an official statement, the Pentagon demurred:

“The coalition respects human life, which is why we are assisting our Iraqi partner forces in their effort to liberate their lands from ISIS brutality.”

Drone Strikes Escalate Further Under Trump

Former President Barack Obama leaves behind a complicated legacy. Although popular with Democrats and progressives, aspects of his foreign policy have come under fire from those very same groups. Observers point to the sometimes-imprecise drone strikes in the Middle East—a way to keep boots off the ground in hotbeds like Syria, but also a dehumanizing and deeply flawed form of warfare.

His successor, President Donald Trump, has escalated the practice even further, granting the power to conduct drone strikes to the CIA—raising concerns about accountability.

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