After ISIS destroyed the landmark Grand Al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul, the terrorist group suddenly placed the blame on American soldiers. Washington quickly reacted to the accusation saying that the U.S. Military had no part in the destruction of the historical monument.
What does ISIS gain by blowing up the Mosul mosque?
ISIS wants to enforce its ultra-conservative views of Islam and they desire to eradicate anything that doesn't go along with their view of things. According to Iraqi sources, when ISIS captured Mosul in 2014, they initially wanted to destroy the city's landmarks, namely the leaning Minaret and the Al-Nuri mosque.
ISIS said that the minaret and the mosque do not conform to the fundamentalist view of Islam, especially those with Shia roots.
After the U.S. backed Iraqi forces managed to gain an upper hand in the battle of Mosul, desperate ISIS fighters decided to destroy the mosque as they retreated and blame it to U.S. forces to gain sympathy from Muslims in the area. Washington denies such accusations and continued on with destroying the last pockets of jihadist resistance in the city. At the moment, Iraqi forces are pushing through, though many ISIS fighters have resorted to using civilians as human shields to hamper the inevitable advance of the U.S. led coalition.
What is next after Mosul?
The main objective of the United States and the coalition it created in the Middle East is to utterly destroy ISIS and all terrorist groups connected to it.
Through the diplomatic travels of U.S. President Donald Trump in the Middle East, he created an Arab coalition that will fight against ISIS and combat the growing influence of Iran in the region.
Recently Iran had launched missile strikes into key ISIS locations in Syria. This is the first time Iran targeted areas outside of the country in 30 years.
the United States is wary as Iran showed that it has the capability to cause damage to any target under its missile umbrella. This adds another level of complexity in the diplomatic mess that is happening in Syria.
Presently the U.S. coalition is gaining pace in Iraq as Mosul might be liberated sooner than previously expected.
However, the fight against ISIS is still not over, as most of the fighters are still entrenched heavily in the Northern areas of Iraq. If America desires to completely eradicate ISIS from they must step up with their offensive strategy. However, the only problem is the possibility of crashing head-on with powers in the Middle East that do not agree with the U.S. policy in the region.
