After Mosul

Senior State Department officials on Tuesday outlined US plans for humanitarian missions after the completion of combat operations in Mosul, Iraq. The officials, speaking on background with reporters on a conference call, said operations had so far displaced 33,000 people, which is “lower than initially expected,” but they said they were planning for a “worst-case scenario of up to 700,000 people displaced.” The officials also said pledges of $2 billion in aid specifically for post-Mosul relief had been secured from the international community. Preparations have been made to feed 2.3 million people, and United Nations camps are ready to house 80,000 currently, with expansions in the works to accommodate up to a total of 250,000. Additionally, 900 tankers and 50,000 household systems are ready to provide water for drinking and showering. Stockpiles of medicine can serve 300,000, and 100 ambulances are standing by. All in all, one official said they had “positioned our supplies sufficiently so that we’d be able to handle a reasonable scope of worst-case scenarios.” The establishment of post-operations governance, the officials said, “will be led by the Iraqi government,” but they stressed the primary importance of restoring basic services. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Adabi “takes seriously the need for future reconciliation, and the first step towards that is being able to get people back into their homes.”