U.S. ‘Probably Had a Role’ in Mosul Deaths, Commander Says
Islamic State said that My initial assessment is that we probably had a role in these casualties,
General Townsend did not describe the changes in detail,
but cast them as a return to the military’s standard offensive doctrine following the "very centralized" approach he said was initially put in place after President Barack Obama sent American forces back to Iraq to combat the Islamic State.
General Townsend said the steps were taken to speed up the process of providing airpower to support Iraqi troops
and American Special Operations advisers at the leading edge of the offensive to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State.
By MICHAEL R. GORDONMARCH 28, 2017
WASHINGTON — The senior United States commander in Iraq said Tuesday
that an American airstrike likely triggered the collapse of a building in Mosul that killed more than 100 civilians this month, but indicated that an investigation would also examine whether the attack set off a larger blast from explosives set by militants.
Maj. Gen. Maan al-Saadi, an Iraqi special forces commander, told The New York Times his
men had called in the American airstrikes that caused the civilian deaths in Mosul.
General Townsend said that he did not have information on the Iraqi officer’s specific role, but explained
that any American airstrike requested by the Iraqis would also need to be approved by American forces.
