{"id":56785,"date":"2017-08-25T16:06:05","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T16:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:45:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:45:04","slug":"us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Calls by United Nations officials to halt the coalition air campaign in Raqqa, Syria, will only reinforce the Islamic State\u2019s&nbsp;tactic of using human shields and put more civilians in harm\u2019s way, U.S. military officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Any pause also would strengthen the terror group\u2019s defensive positions in the embattled city, according to Army Col. Joseph Scrocca, a spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Thursday morning, Jan Egeland, the special adviser to the UN Special Envoy for Syria, called for a halt to the coalition air campaign to help reduce civilian casualties and protect the nearly 20,000 civilians estimated to be trapped with ISIS fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials in Baghdad have often scoffed at repeated claims of large numbers of civilian casualties in Raqqa. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend \u2014 the commanding general for the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria \u2014 this week said he would need to see \u201chard information\u201d to back up the claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/24\/un-calls-for-halt-of-us-air-campaign-over-raqqa-to-save-civilians\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-824044290.jpg_dddd12.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">UN calls for halt of US air campaign over Raqqa to save civilians<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Officials at the UN have called for a halt by the U.S. led air campaign against ISIS in Raqqa on humanitarian grounds.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf ISIS believes unsubstantiated allegations of civilian casualties will put a halt to Coalition operations, they will increase their use of human shields to delay their inevitable defeat, which will of course put more civilians at risk, Scrocca told Military Times. \u201cThis is exactly what ISIS wants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Scrocca, based on coalition assessments, at least 624 civilians have been killed unintentionally by the coalition since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve. To date, \u201cthe coalition has received 1,101 reports of possible civilian casualties, and 151 were assessed to be credible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scrocca also hit back at some of the organizations that report civilian casualty counts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMost of our critics do not conduct such detailed assessments and often rely on scant information, which frequently comes from single unreliable sources,\u201d he said. \u201cWe hold ourselves accountable with an open and transparent process to assess allegations of civilian casualties, and we publish these findings on a regular basis for the world to see.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The battle for Raqqa, much like Mosul, is difficult, Scrocca said. Commanders often have to strike a delicate balance between the speed of an operation and protecting civilians and infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes, slowing down the pace of operations can put civilians at more risk, as was the case in Mosul, where a large segment of the population faced starvation behind ISIS lines, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Coalition\u2019s goal is always for zero human casualties,\u201d he said. \u201cWe apply rigorous standards to our targeting process and take extraordinary efforts to protect non-combatants.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Any pause in operations would strengthen the Islamic State&#8217;s defensive positions in the embattled city and put more civilians in harm&#8217;s way, U.S. military officials said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":70984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,12,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3351],"class_list":["post-56785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VYFYCWO7QNEHFNUC2JUFVUQT3A","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Any pause in operations would strengthen the Islamic State&#039;s defensive positions in the embattled city and put more civilians in harm&#039;s way, U.S. military officials said.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Any pause in operations would strengthen the Islamic State&#039;s defensive positions in the embattled city and put more civilians in harm&#039;s way, U.S. military officials said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-25T16:06:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T08:45:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shawn Snow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shawn Snow\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2017-08-25T16:06:05+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T08:45:04+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 419,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635890423232982396-f-16-us-turkeyjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Flashpoints\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign - Army Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635890423232982396-f-16-us-turkeyjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2017-08-25T16:06:05+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T08:45:04+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Any pause in operations would strengthen the Islamic State's defensive positions in the embattled city and put more civilians in harm's way, U.S. military officials said.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635890423232982396-f-16-us-turkeyjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635890423232982396-f-16-us-turkeyjpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/25\\\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Flashpoints\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"flashpoints\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Army Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Soldiers | Army Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Army Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/army-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/army-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Army Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign - Army Times","description":"Any pause in operations would strengthen the Islamic State's defensive positions in the embattled city and put more civilians in harm's way, U.S. military officials said.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign","og_description":"Any pause in operations would strengthen the Islamic State's defensive positions in the embattled city and put more civilians in harm's way, U.S. military officials said.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/","og_site_name":"Army Times","article_published_time":"2017-08-25T16:06:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T08:45:04+00:00","author":"Shawn Snow","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shawn Snow","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign","datePublished":"2017-08-25T16:06:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T08:45:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/"},"wordCount":419,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635890423232982396-f-16-us-turkeyjpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Flashpoints","News","Newsletters"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/","name":"US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign - Army Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635890423232982396-f-16-us-turkeyjpg.jpg","datePublished":"2017-08-25T16:06:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T08:45:04+00:00","description":"Any pause in operations would strengthen the Islamic State's defensive positions in the embattled city and put more civilians in harm's way, U.S. military officials said.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635890423232982396-f-16-us-turkeyjpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635890423232982396-f-16-us-turkeyjpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/25\/us-officials-rebuff-un-calls-to-halt-raqqa-air-campaign\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Flashpoints","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/","ad_zone":"flashpoints"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"US officials rebuff UN calls to halt Raqqa air campaign"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/","name":"Army Times","description":"Independent News For Soldiers | Army Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#organization","name":"Army Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/army-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/army-logo-white.png","caption":"Army Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Army Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635890423232982396-f-16-us-turkeyjpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56785"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98891,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56785\/revisions\/98891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56785"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=56785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}