If it is true, as they claim, that ISIL is responsible for the double prison raids in Iraq, then al-Baghdadi’s hand within al-Qaeda has been strengthened. The simultaneous raids released hundreds of jihadis from the Abu Ghraib and Taji prisons. Over 1,000 Iraqis were murdered by car bombs and other attacks in July. This may well strengthen al-Baghdadi’s hand as he argues for autonomy from al-Qaeda Core, led by Ayman al-Zawahiri. It will help in their bid for authority over money and arms flow to al-Qaeda’s al-Nusrah front in Syria.
The ISIL has demonstrated sophisticated planning and effectiveness. They leave a trail of terrorized people in their wake. This will probably act to further inflate their already exaggerated view of their own power. The ISIL act to fulfill al-Baghdadi’s vision of himself on the throne of righteousness. He is probably already dreaming of the great battle between Iran and an ISIL government in Iraq. How can he not win? An overinflated sense of power cannot see beyond its own fantasies. ISIL is small. It can sting again and again but ISIL has no hope of winning the authority it seeks. Iraq’s innocent civilians, including the families and friends of the thousands left wounded last month alone, have no love for them. The terror they spread has not won them many converts.
The real powers in Iraq are quietly moving toward more peaceful tomorrows. And they are effective.
It’s not the bombs, stupid, it’s the people. Iraq is not only bombs and assassinations. Iraq holds a thriving peace movement built of many diverse organizations, from tiny to rather large, who disagree on many issues, but who agree on a principle: the way forward is a non-violent implementation of the will of the people.
Many started as charities, grew into advocates, and are now quite sophisticated NGOs working hard to bring about people-centered changes in the laws of the land. “A tribute to the power of such organizations is that they were paramount in preserving 25 percent of parliamentary seats for women, and putting forward a draft law against domestic violence.”
Some of the seeds of these organizations are from other countries lending their passion and expertise to efforts such as ”The Preemptive Love Coalition . . . They used to send children outside Iraq to receive heart surgery, but since August 2010 it has been training Iraqi doctors to perform the surgeries inside the country.” [al-Arabiya]
The ICSSI has helped to coordinate efforts of a broad coalition of Iraq’s civil society movements. They host a social forum and have spawned projects such as: Active Nonviolence and Protests in Iraq, the Baghdad Marathon, Children’s Health in Iraq, Freedom of Expression and Press, The Human Rights Defenders, and Stop private military companies. Each of these is built of smaller groups working to improve life in Iraq. Unions have begun to demand changes in the law. The civil society movement is real, powerful, and growing.
Changes in American foreign policy are overdue. We can shift the flow of U.S. taxpayer dollars away from killing and weaponry and give more support to non-violent civil society groups (in Iraq, for instance). If we only focus on the bombs and bullets we miss the larger truth. It’s time the Obama administration admitted the folly of incorrectly centering its policies on outdated visions and bad science. We can end our export of death, end the cycle of violence we take part in, and gain the respect of millions of innocent civilians seeking peace and stability.
August 11, 2013 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact
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