Don’t Let Iran Tensions Stop the Battle Against ISIS

Defense One

January 8, 2020

 

My recent journey through northern Iraq revealed how fragile the region remains, and how extremism could once again take root.

Last month, as I traveled through Baghdad and northern Iraq on a trip facilitated by the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Iraqi government marked the second anniversary of its victory over ISIS. Yet our journey — from the rubble of western Mosul, to the now-silent Sunni side of Tel Afar, to isolated tribal areas on the Syrian border — revealed the enduring physical and psychological devastation wrought by ISIS. Left unaddressed, the group’s painful legacy of human suffering, trauma, and displacement could usher in ISIS 2.0.

The timing of the U.S. decision to kill Iran’s Gen. Qasem Soleimani could not have been worse. Even if the drone strike does not lead to war with Iran, it has already led U.S. forces to pause anti-ISIS operations. U.S. forces may yet be ejected from Iraq, and with them the best hope of staving off the return of ISIS and its challenge to regional and global stability. This must not be forgotten as U.S. leaders consider their next steps.

Our delegation traveled across Erbil, Dohuk and Ninewa provinces, observing ISIS’ messy aftermath. The ruins of west Mosul rival the worst of World War II-era destruction. Blocks of the city are still rubble.

Elsewhere, an eerie absence served as a reminder of ISIS’s chaos. Driving through the mixed Sunni-Shia town of Tel Afar, the Sunni side of town lay empty. Numerous Iraqi Shia armed group flags were fluttering, a testament both to the return of the city’s Shia population and the distant prospect that its Sunni residents will be back anytime soon.

 

Story Continues

Bugs Marlowe

Article URL : https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/01/dont-let-iran-tensions-stop-battle-against-isis/162315/?oref=d-skybox