Central Command has issued new figures on its air war in Iraq and Syria, saying that they have dropped around 50% more munitions on those nations in the first four months of 2017 than they did in 2016, presenting this as a sign of military progress in the war.
14,192 rockets, missiles,. bombs, and other munitions were dropped out of planes on Iraq and Syria over that time. The growing number of strikes has meant the Pentagon is struggling to get US arms makers to make bombs as fast as they’re dropping them.
The “progress” narrative is one Centcom is eager to push, saying more bombings proves they are moving faster in “destroying ISIS.” One thing they are definitely doing is killing a lot more civilians than they were this time last year, though naturally that gets left out of official figures.
Much of the increase is likely attributable to the US dramatically escalating strikes in the city of Mosul, trying to help Iraqi forces gain some momentum after seven months of trying to capture the city. This is also where a lot of the biggest civilian death tolls has come from.