Before and after images reveal the huge destruction in Mosul
"They make a desert, and call it peace," concluded a bitter enemy of the Romans in a famous ancient speech. His repudiation of empire and war might seem familiar among the cities of Iraq and Syria today: In Mosul, the Iraqi city recently retaken from the Islamic State, victory was declared amid a sprawl of devastation — thought it's unclear […]Ishaan Tharoor writes for The Washington Post:
"They make a desert, and call it peace," concluded a bitter enemy of the Romans in a famous ancient speech. His repudiation of empire and war might seem familiar among the cities of Iraq and Syria today: In Mosul, the Iraqi city recently retaken from the Islamic State, victory was declared amid a sprawl of devastation — thought it's unclear how long the fragile peace may hold.
Mosul is a historic Middle Eastern crossroads as well as modern Iraq's second-largest city. Its sensational capture by the Islamic State in 2014 signaled the ascent of the extremist group, whose specious "caliphate" was declared from the city's al-Nuri mosque. Now, the jihadists have been mostly driven out. Clad in a black military uniform, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi went to the city last week and hailed "the collapse of the terrorist state of falsehood." But it came at a hideous cost.
