Fear of liberation

It is obvious that in our region, the areas under Daesh’s control are afraid of being liberated at the hands of the “regime” forces. This phenomenon is manifested in Iraq and Syria, and Iraq is a prime example of this because the areas that need liberation at the moment had previously fallen into the hands of Al-Qaeda and were liberated, and now need to be liberated from Daesh.

This does not mean that the residents of the areas under Daesh’s control are extremist or that they welcome extremists. Instead, it means they are afraid of the oppression they may suffer at the hands of the so-called “regime forces”, which are actually Iranian militias such as Hezbollah in Syria, other Iranian and Afghan mercenaries, and the Popular Mobilisation Forces which is under Iranian leadership. Tehran always boasts about the role played by General Qasem Soleimani in the country.

In Iraq today, Fallujah has been besieged in order to liberate it; it was already liberated from Al-Qaeda in the past. However, it is not logical to say that Fallujah is an extremist area and therefore it is easy for it to fall into the hands of extremist groups. The truth is that the approach taken in Iraq, as well as in Syria, is what makes it easy for the cities to fall into the hands of extremist groups, as there are no serious political solutions, an end has not been put to sectarianism, as was the case in Iraq, and no one has stopped the Assad-Iran killing machine.

The simplest proof that the areas that fall into the hands of Daesh are not necessarily extremist areas is the recent incident in Baghdad, which is 50 kilometres away from Fallujah. The UN and Human Rights Watch reported that last month the inhabitants of the city suffered a serious lack of food and medicine amid the government forces’ siege. When we talk about what is going on in Baghdad, everyone can see that Al-Abadi’s government is making serious efforts to control the security situation in the city and protect the Green Zone, which was stormed twice. Is Baghdad extremist and prone to falling into the hands of terrorists? The same can be said for Damascus, as, if it weren’t for the Iranian security grip on the city and the Russian aerial protection, Damascus would have fallen two or more years ago. Can we say that the people of Damascus are also extremists?

Hence, the issue is not that extremism lies in Fallujah and Al-Anbar in Iraq or in Al-Raqqah or any other city in Syria. Instead, the issue is that the solutions being proposed are not serious, and as long as there is sectarian extremism, Iranian intervention and killing, then there will be setbacks from time to time. Everything that is happening now in Iraq and Syria is nothing more than cosmetic measures that are mere formalities. Violence and extremism will continue to be prevalent in the scene because the inhabitants of these areas have to choose between sectarian death or death due to extremism, and both lead to desperation and frustration with the so-called state authority. This is especially true when we are dealing with a fragile state that raises a sectarian flag, such as Iran’s flag, along with its worn-out and tired slogans. Therefore, as long as no one seriously stops the Assad-Iran killing machine in Syria and no one makes radical political reforms in Iran, then unfortunately, the blood bath will not end and the cities will still fall, even if they are liberated, as they will be liberated from one form of oppression and fall into another.

Translated from Arabi21, 24 May 2016.

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