We condemn the Brutal Murder of David Haines by ISIS

David Haines Iraq

Unfortunately it is with sad news the thug group we call the Islamic State otherwise known as ISIS have decided to unjustly murder their latest victim, British Aid worker David Haines.

It comes a few days after David’s family had pleaded with ISIS to get in touch with the family and not carry out their threats.

Sadly, ISIS have done what they have already done to thousands of others.

It is a terrible situation and those captured by ISIS face a sickening fate. We at Baghdad Invest condemn such actions as seriously Un-Islamic and way out of line of what is normality. For now, the family of David Haines will be suffering tremendous angst at news of their loved one’s passing.

David will be in a better place now, hopefully his God will be taking good care of him.

As we go on, we can say Iraq is very much turning the tide on ISIS in the fight to take back land and push ISIS out of Iraq. The murder of David Haines is an indication of the levels of desperation in which ISIS are feeling.

David Cawthorne Haines

Born in East Yorkshire but raised Perthshire, 44-year-old Mr Haines was in Syria as an aid worker just before his capture in March 2013. David has been to multiple middle east countries in a similar capacity working to bring aid to those who need it.

David’s case really came to light after he appeared at the end of the video of which ISIS had beheaded American journalist Steven Sotloff.

Rest in Peace – David Haines.

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The post We condemn the Brutal Murder of David Haines by ISIS appeared first on Baghdad Invest.

Another ‘pivotal moment’ in Iraq’s history?

As the United States calls for a global response to the Islamic State (IS) threat plaguing parts of Iraq and Syria one finds oneself pondering if we’re witnessing another pivotal moment in Iraq’s history and what will ultimately come of it.

Main staircase of the Ziggurat

Of course it is unwise to try and define and sum-up the moment in time one is living in historically. Many commentators and journalists made this mistake back in 2011 throughout the course of the Arab Spring when they expressed quite a lot of optimism about the future of Middle Eastern nations undergoing revolutionary tumults. Similarly it would be unwise to try and characterize and define the present crisis Iraq is facing historically until we can retrospectively evaluate its long term affects on Iraq and the wider region.

Nevertheless by evaluating the history of past hinge moments and years in Iraqi history it is reasonable to speculate where the present IS threat will ultimately take Iraq. Whether or not it will serve to cripple already quite tenuous cross-denominational ties, result in a partition brought about by a Kurdish declaration of independence or see to the society as a whole pull together and act upon the recognition that noninclusive and heavy-handed governance are at least a small part of the reason IS have made the gains they have had through their exploitation of discontentment and, as was the case in Anbar, disgruntled and unstable Sunni communities.

When evaluating Iraq’s modern post-Second World War history I would contend that the important ‘pivotal’ moments would be the following,

King Faisel II of Iraq

• The 1956 coup which brought to an end the monarchy and with it the Kingdom of Iraq.

• The 1968 Baathist coup which resulted from the political instability and upheaval in Arab countries which followed Egypt and Syria’s June 1967 defeat by the Israelis. Furthermore this coincided with the decline of the pan-Arabism promulgated by Egypt’s Nasser and with it a vacuum of sorts politically in the region. The Iraqi Baath vied earnestly to fill that vacuum.

• The 1979 purge of the Baath leadership by Saddam Hussein who of course saw himself as the “new Nasser” of the region. That purge along with his attack on Iran in September 1980 which initiated the Iran-Iraq War which didn’t end until 1988 with at least a million left dead in its wake. That shortly thereafter of course led onto Saddam deciding to seize Kuwait and fight against an enormous American-led military coalition assembled to confront him. The aftermath of that campaign saw Iraq placed under United Nations sanctions until the 2003 intervention which eventually saw to his overthrow.

• And obviously of course the 2003 overthrow of Saddam which saw the end of the Baath’s hold on power in Iraq.

Events beginning in June 2014 will quite likely be seen as an important hinge moment in Iraqi history also. It is after all the beginning of a very important and ongoing test. The one that sees if the new Iraq with all of its flaws is able to nevertheless utilize its democratic and secular societal republican rudiments and beat back the vicious sea of reaction which threatens to swallow it and go on to prosper as a successful multi-ethnic and multi-denominational state.

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In Iraq the fight is for the country’s civil society

As various Kurdish and Iraqi forces continue to fight the Islamic State (IS) forces in northern Iraq there is one fundamental thing which need not be forgotten about this conflict and this fight. On every level it is one for the preservation of Iraq’s secular society. Imperfect as it is in many regards.

While many outlets and pundits are providing us with important and up-to-date information on the minutia of the military fight against IS it is important to remember what this group is out to achieve. What it detests and what it is seeking to dismantle. That is clearly Iraq’s society given its relatively secular nature and make-up.

Appreciation shown for Iraq: by Nur Al-Ebeid @NurAlebeid

In fact the new human rights chief of the United Nations, the Jordanian royal family’s Prince Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, recently summed up very aptly the secular nature of the territory which conforms to modern day Iraq when she lamented the assault on Christian, Turkoman’s and Yazidi communities amongst others when she reminded us that, “These communities have lived side by side, on the same soil, for centuries and in some cases for millennia.”

The great test that is time demonstrates conclusively that Islamic States’ assault on Iraq is in order to dismantle and eradicate that secular society. The very existence of which, not just the state but the very multi-ethnic, multi-denominational nature of the society, to them constitutes an extremely irritating thorn in the very heart of the territory which they envisage as being part of a future sectarian and theocratic caliphate.

The territory on which sits the modern polity of Iraq was of course historically known as the Cradle of Civilization. And the bedrock of civilization is a democratic and secular society. Iraq’s isn’t perfect but it certainly is worth defending and fighting for. The international community has everything to win in defending the fundamental rudiments of such a society and everything to lose by sitting on the sidelines while it struggles for its life.

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A look at ISIS Beyond The Borders of Iraq and Syria

Iraqi’s who flee the post-war events after 2003, were expecting to stay at distance from the problems and brutality happening to Iraq but strangely that never happened.

Iraqi’s as long as holding an Iraqi passport stayed connected to Iraq in various ways, two of them included the financial dependence on the some-how stable life in Iraq and the stress of worry about the family and loved ones who are still trapped in Iraq and forced to experience the post-war events and the now situation of ISIS.

When ISIS first emerged in Iraq, it was an unknown force without a name, it consisted of unknown nationalities along with Iraqi members. That force brought some strange sense of peace in Mosul, where they were mostly engaged in civilians’ lives, but that peace was disturbed by fear of the unknown. Later that unknown became known as the true brutality and identity of ISIS were revealed to Mosul, Iraq and the rest of the world.

ISIS did not only interfere in the lives of Iraqis inside Iraq but it also had an effect to those who lives beyond, the continues flow of news about the strange and yet expected change of rules and culture gave us all a wakeup call on how our past in Iraq is going to be a myth because of the destruction happening to the monuments and the very meaning of “Life” in Iraq.

Considering most of the Iraqi’s living outside Iraq, have established careers that are located theoretically outside but practically taking place in Iraq, were therefore also included in the financial effects of ISIS.

Every day, we hear of a family who left Iraq, leaving homes and careers behind, headed to the visa-required countries and on-the-borders temporary camps, and with all that, the effects of ISIS continues to pass upon us all.

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