‘Liberation’ of Mosul

Every claim of “liberation” these days is taken with a generous dose of salt ever since US President George Bush, decked up in a flying suit, announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq 14 years ago. It is the same with Mosul. If the retaking of Mosul is such a seminal event that the Iraqi PM personally arrived to congratulate the commanders, then can the world hope to end the spectre of unmitigated violence against civilians? The short answer is no. At this point, at least six battles are under way in a vast battlefield that has opened up from North Africa to West Asia after the destablisation or overthrow of several largely secular but anti-US regimes.

The recapture of one or two cities will not make much of a difference now that the genie is out of the bottle. Besides the ISIS, a bewildering array of militant organisations is also in the fray, frequently at cross purposes with each other because each is backed by nations with conflicting strategic goals. And now that several nations have sunk their teeth into the real estate of what was once Iraq and Syria (besides Libya), they are unlikely to back off without cutting a beneficial deal for themselves. The only saving grace is that the reversal of the ISIS’ run of victories will dissuade many susceptible youngsters from other countries trying to lend their shoulder to the establishment of a so-called Islamic caliphate.

The ISIS is not down and out. It has tended to morph elsewhere such as in Afghanistan despite suffering debilitating reverses in its strongholds. This ability of the ISIS to survive lends to the suspicion that despite public disclaimers, countries keep propping up militant organisations as proxies to advance their interests. In areas such as Mosul, where there was complete unanimity on clearing out the ISIS, the tougher task of restoring civilisation from rubble still remains. The locals will inevitably benchmark the new regime against the rule of the ISIS. Unless these countries join hands to provide decent governance, the ISIS will continue to tempt all those radicalised on social media by ideologues of the Takfiri\Wahabi ideology.