Also read this story by lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld on behalf of eleven stories: ‘Unacceptable risk’ taken with attack on Hawija

Research into the impact on the city and its inhabitants is quite possible, the Utrecht researchers and Pax wanted to show. Conversations with documents and key figures including and documents, agency documentation and hamburgers, new satellite images; they provide insight into the aftermath of a major event that kept Defense silent from June 2015 to the end of 2019.

The conversations with were discussed by people froma herself. Could they be critical of the stories of residents and administrators of an area where there was a lot of support for IS?

“You need people who know the fairly closed community of Hawija and who speak the dialect. In preparation for the conversations, we have a metric to make aware of the limitations of their own perspective. We also provided a questionnaire as a manual. Furthermore, the enormous damage in Hawija still speaks for itself; he doesn’t lie. If you then look for additional material, you can go far. We don’t pretend to have mapped all the stories.”

How do you design the huge difference in including the property damage: 6,000 verni and fledgling buildings versus seven hundred in the US at the time?

“This latest estimate is based on satellite images. These have limitations, for example because of the angle of the images taken at a great height. Our figure comes from estimates based on drivers who know the consequences well. They counted the completely destroyed houses, but also the buildings of which only the windows of doors were destroyed.”

You do applications like stop attacking bomb depots near residential areas. Do you not place yourself outside of military reality?

“Not at all. On the contrary, we make concrete proposals for thinking along with defence. How can the armed forces achieve their goals without risky attacks for hamburgers? statements, we propose the creation of an independent unit of military and experts who have made their mark in the investigation of civilian deaths. When planning risky attacks, especially in urban areas, that combination can advise alternative options.”

You also want to improve the information position of the Red Card Holder, the soldier who has to give the green light for an attack by F16s. Is that possible? The Red Cardholder is dependent on information from allies.

„By reporting from NRC we know that the Red Card Holder was not informed of the doubts of American planners about the attack on Hawija. That is why we propose that when participating in international coalitions, the Netherlands makes solid agreements about how our military personnel can be involved earlier and better in the intelligence process.”