Why abductions, murders have returned to Baghdad
By : Adnan Hussein
:: Abductions and murder returned to Baghdad and other major cities in Iraq and some small towns when the operation to liberate Mosul was launched. They increased as the battles escalated and are now out of control after Mosul was liberated. Is this a coincidence?
Abductions and murder have become a daily phenomenon like the situation was years ago. This time, the identity of those kidnapped and killed are various. This means these are not ordinary crimes as it seems the aim is to shake security and obstruct the restoration of stability required for political, economic and social development in the post-ISIS phase.
These crimes would not have happened if the state and its law-enforcement institutions hadn’t been lenient in imposing the law, beginning with the traffic law, drug law and others. This would not have happened if it hadn’t been for indifference in terms of prohibiting arms, establishing non-state armed groups and imposing power over the armed groups which are said to be under the state’s control.
None of this would have happened if administrative and financial corruption had been fought and if corrupt men empowered by state institutions and security forces had been pursued.
Most corrupt men have not been touched and it’s actually prohibited to address the dangerous corruption they are involved in
Adnan Hussein
The most corrupt men
We will appreciate it if no one repeats the number of cases which the integrity courts have ruled into as all these cases put together are nothing compared to the cases which no one has looked into. The most corrupt men have not been touched and it’s actually prohibited to come near them or to address the dangerous corruption they’re involved in.
Violating the law, defying the state and escaping punishment are happening when there are around 1 million personnel in the institutions, i.e. police, operations’ command and national security and intelligence apparatuses, that are tasked with maintaining security and order. What are they doing if they cannot put an end to these abductions and murder or at least gradually limit them?
More importantly, why are these apparatuses present if they do not carry out the least of their duties? Do we need all these apparatuses which cost a lot of money when security and order are not maintained?
The phenomenon of kidnappings and murder has crossed the red line. The prime minister and the relevant security institutions are urgently requested to seriously look into this and rectify it and they must restructure these apparatuses and change their commanders.
Maintaining internal security is as important as fighting terrorism. Terrorism will be strengthened if internal security collapses.
:: Adnan Hussein is the executive editor-in-chief of Al-Mada newspaper and head of the National Union of Iraqi journalists. Previously, he has held the position of Managing Editor in Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. He tweets under the handle @adnanhussein.
:: Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in the Column section are their own and do not reflect RiyadhVision’s point-of-view.
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