The Fall of Mosul

Mosul has fallen, needlessly I believe, and I am heartbroken over it. Gone, wasted, squandered, the promise of the Anbar Awakening, and with it probably, the hopes for freedom and a decent life for all Iraqis. Poor people, abandoned by the feckless West and the weakling-in-Chief, deliberately losing a war that had been won. And poor us, as al-Qaeda is on the rise again everywhere. A Dominican priest in Mosul writes, pathetically, of conditions on the ground.  

Bad news. I write you in a situation of violence in Mosul that is very critical and even apocalyptic. Most of the inhabitants of the city have already abandoned their houses and fled into the villages and are sleeping in the open without anything to eat or drink. Many thousands of armed men from the Islamic Groups of Da’ash have attacked the city of Mosul for the last two days. They have assassinated adults and children. The bodies have been left in the streets and in the houses by the hundreds, without pity. The regular forces and the army have also fled the city, along with the governor. In the mosques, they cry “Allah Akbar, long live the Islamic State.” Qaraqosh is overflowing with refugees of all kinds, without food or lodging. The check points and the Kurdish forces are blocking innumerable refugees from entering Kurdistan. What we are living and what we have seen over the last two days is horrible and catastrophic. The priory of Mar Behnam and other churches fell into the hands of the rebels this morning. . . . and now they have come here and entered Qaraqosh five minutes ago, and we are now surrounded and threatened with death. . . . pray for us. I’m sorry that I can’t continue . . . They are not far from our convent. . . .Don’t reply. . . .