US must remain in Iraq to stabilize it

US must remain in Iraq to stabilize it

US must remain in Iraq to stabilize it
Rasheed Abou-Alsamh
Iraq has been in a hell of a mess since the US invasion and occupation in 2003. The dictator, Saddam Hussein, was overthrown easily, and it allowed the Shiite majority to take power. There is no doubt that very few Iraqis shed tears over the death of Saddam. But little did they know that this act would trigger 13 years of war, killings, acts of terrorism and the rise of the extremist Daesh group.
The current military action of the Iraqi Army with the help of Kurdish forces, and the air support of the Americans and British, to retake the city of Mosul from more than two years under the control of Daesh, is advancing slowly but steadily. The third largest city in Iraq, Mosul lies in the north of the country near the borders with Syria and Turkey. In 2010 the city had more than 1.8 million inhabitants. It now has 665,000 inhabitants after more than half a million-people fled the city when Daesh attacked and occupied Mosul in 2014. This week alone it is estimated that 3,300 people fled the Mosul region. For sure most of Mosul’s residents will receive their liberators with kisses and applause after spending more than two years under the medieval and brutal rule of Daesh.
This week I saw on television Iraqi inhabitants of villages near Mosul kissing and hugging the Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers who had freed them from the rule of the barbarians. The extremely able Kurdish forces have greatly helped the Iraqi regular army to advance on Mosul, and in other battles against Daesh. Very well organized, the Iraqi Kurds and the Kurds in Syria face the constant anger and attacks of the Turks, who have been battling the Kurds in Turkey for decades now to stop them from becoming independent and establishing an independent state on Turkish territory. Turkish forces already occupy areas inside Syria and Iraq close to its borders. Many observers lay the blame for the emergence of Daesh in Iraq and Syria squarely on the shoulders of US President Barack Obama, who decided to withdraw almost all US forces from Iraq in 2011. This left a power vacuum, and with a weak central government in Baghdad and the descent of Syria into a civil war, Daesh took the opportunity to seize power and establish their caliphate extending from Raqqa to Mosul. Another danger is the sectarian clashes between the Shiite militias that assist the Iraqi Army and the populations of Sunni-majority areas in northern Iraq, including Mosul. That is why the Iraqi government has already banned these militias from participating in the liberation of Mosul. But there are concerns that they may enter the city later and start clashes.
“There are no guarantees that they will not enter the city after it is emptied of Daesh by regular troops, and trigger a new round of sectarian conflict,” wrote British analyst Emile Simpson recently on the Foreign Policy website.
In part, these actions of the Shiite militias, which came into Sunni cities and killed those who resisted, allowed Daesh to settle in Sunni areas of Iraq. Without the protection of the Americans, northern Sunnis allowed Daesh to settle there as a form of protection against the central government in Baghdad and the Shiite militias. Little did they know they were accepting a pact with the devil.
Now it is not a question of whether Baghdad will regain control of Mosul, but when. The biggest challenge will come later and will be how will the central government manage to keep the peace in Mosul and not allow it to fall back into the clutches of Daesh. For this to work, Americans and their allies must leave military advisers in Iraq to assist the Iraqi government and to train local forces. Without this essential and ongoing help, Iraq will see Daesh arise again, and sectarian tensions and violence will continue to scar the country.

* Rasheed Abou-Alsamh is a Saudi journalist based in Brazil.
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