Iraq celebration of Daesh defeat disturbed by reality, reports

Iraqis observed a minute’s silence on Monday for those killed in the battle against Deash a year after the group was defeated.

Fireworks were scheduled to be set off later in the evening. The government has made the date a national holiday and dubbed it “victory day over Daesh.”

Former prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared Daesh defeated in Iraq on Dec. 9, 2017. The group had ruled over a self-styled caliphate, governing large parts of northern Iraq and eastern Syria according to its fanatical interpretation of Islam and Islamic law.

Moreover, fifteen years after it was sealed off, the heavily fortified neighborhood in the heart of Baghdad was opened to the public on Monday. The neighborhood, known as the Green Zone, had been cordoned off by the US military in 2003 to protect it from bombings during the war.

But as the Iraq government is celebrating the defeat of Daesh, researches and reports warn that the terrorist group is still active and has not been completely eradicated. In November 2018, US newspapers published news about Daesh hideouts discovered east of Mosul. Moreover, Iraqi authorities announced capturing five Daesh operatives on Nov. 9, 2018 in the same governorate.

Another report by The Sun said at least 3,000 armed Daesh fighters are hiding in caves and tunnels in Iraq. The 2018 Terrorism Index also said Iraq is still on top of countries affected by terrorism and that the total number of deaths from terrorism recorded 18,814 deaths in 2017.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also published a report that affirmed Daesh still has around 10,000 to 15,000 armed terrorists in Iraq, mostly over the borders with Syria.

For his part, political analyst Hassan Salama see that celebrating victory over Daesh in Iraq is deemed a mere moral celebration that contradicts the reality that Daesh has not been fully defeated.

In an interview with The Reference, Salama said that even if Iraq is celebrating the defeat of Daesh, it still needs to heal the grave wound that the terrorist organization left within the Iraqi soil.

Iraqi researcher Hassan Rashid said that victory over Daesh cannot be claimed as Iraq has sacrificed thousands of victims in the war against terrorism that lasted over than two years.

In an interview with The Reference, Rashid added that Daesh is the result of wrong policies by Iraqi politicians, which are still being adopted, therefore, Daesh is still considered a source of threat and concern for Iraqis, especially that a number of citizens have adopted the same ideology.

He further demanded Iraqi politicians to unite against extremism, pointing out that there are still over two million displaced persons living in camps and difficult economic situations, not to mention the abducted Yezidis.