Scenes of panic as hundreds of Iraqis flee Mosul

will this atrocity ever end innocent civilians are the losers in any conflict

Unfortunately the only way to get ISIS out of Mosul is with force... they won't politely leave. Sadly that means that innocent people are caught in the crossfire. It's always been so, and always will be that the innocent civilians suffer most in any armed conflict.

It then becomes a matter of minimizing civilian deaths

Just because it's inevitable that civilians are killed, doesn't mean that it doesn't matter how many ya kill

Russia has flattened Aleppo. It looks like Nagasaki after the bomb.

Russia can't afford a ground assault because Putin stole all the money. But then again, the Kremlin is quite happy for perpetual air raids to keep their dictator in power.

The comparison with Mosul is as dishonest and unhinged as ever.