A general view shows a damaged street with sandbags used as barriers in Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district, Syria March 6, 2015. REUTERS/Hosam Katan/File Photo
David Kilcullen, The Australian: Terror, Aleppo and Mosul: three styles of urban warfare
As Aleppo’s ordeal ends, Americans and their allies are in their own urban fight around Mosul. These twin battles illustrate how the world’s militaries have been forced to relearn combat in cities.
Three distinct styles — we might loosely call them the Russian, “caliphate” and American schools of urban warfare — are having a direct impact in Iraq and Syria, with effects radiating outward to places such as Berlin and Ankara.
The Russian school was the earliest to appear, growing from the Chechen wars of the 1990s, with later adaptations in Georgia and Crimea. It has profoundly shaped the campaign in Aleppo.
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WNU Editor: I always find this commentaries and analysis depressing. The focus is on retaking a city that will probably end up being destroyed .... but no discussion on how to prevent a city from being retaken in the first place.
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