The Man Who Would Be Commander In Chief Shows His Abysmal Ignorance

Pretty much lost in all of the other disgusting things Trump has had to say the last few days is his rooting for the United States and our allies to lose in Mosul, in order to provide him with a campaign talking point.

As the New York Times reported:

"WASHINGTON — In Wednesday night’s debate, Donald J. Trump excoriated the American-backed Iraqi military offensive to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State, saying it had forfeited “the element of surprise” and allowed militant leaders to slip away."

Or as Trump himself tweeted soon afterwards:

"The attack on Mosul is turning out to be a total disaster. We gave them months of notice. U.S. is looking so dumb. VOTE TRUMP and WIN AGAIN!"

Besides the obvious subversion, and borderline treason*, involved in a Presidential candidate virtually rooting for a humiliating loss for our troops, these remarks demonstrate his profound ignorance of military strategy, and the situation on the ground in Mosul.

First, let's just take a look at the terrain around the city.  Here are a couple of pictures taken along the major routes into and out of Mosul:

Approaching Mosul from the Northwest

Approaching Mosul from the East

I suggest that Trump explain to us exactly where an army could be hidden in this sort of terrain.

Second, Trump does not seem to give a damn that Mosul's population hit a high in 2004 of 1.8 million people, and even today there are probably about 1.3 million innocent civilians living there.  Trump apparently is perfectly happy to see them slaughtered by the tens of thousands, in order to kill some of the thirty thousand or so ISIS troops there.  A surprise attack would obviously lead to massive civilian casualties, but as these people are not white, Trump and his followers just don't care.  The United States, on the other hand, is giving them all the chance it can to leave or provide in whatever way they can for their own security.

And finally, there is no kind of fighting that takes a greater toll on the attacking army than urban warfare.  We gave ISIS troops a chance to flee the city?  You bet we did- there is nothing that will make them easier to defeat than getting them out in the sort of open terrain you can see above.  

So, there you have it.  Trump is not only grotesquely ignorant of military tactics, but he is also criminally indifferent to civilians caught in the way of his army- virtually the complete opposite of Hillary.  This man is a monster, and a potential war criminal of the worst kind.

*Unlike Republicans, I only use this term in its strict Constitutional meaning.  In my opinion, working to undermine the U.S. military and our allies with the American people, comes perilously close to "giving aid and comfort to the enemy."  Anyone want to argue with that?