Iraq is a nation that has seen a great deal of war, invasions, internal conflict, and terrorism, perhaps more than any other country in the region. The Iraqi armed forces fought in Iraq’s past wars as well as other people’s wars, but not once they came home to a celebration of a truly clean, decisive, and moral victory. This victory against ISIS is it; the victory Iraqis can be proud of. Although no one wants war, but when you have to fight it, when you give it all you have, and you are on the right side of history, you are entitled to a great victory like the one Iraqis are celebrating now.
I was about to graduate from college when the Iraq-Iran war ended, on 8 August 1988, as if someone was carefully choosing the memorable date (8/8/88). Despite that fact that the two sides fought for eight years in one of the worst and longest wars of the century, at the end, they went back to the ante-bellum conditions. No side won or lost a square inch of territory, or made a political gain. The only losers however, were those Iraqis and Iranians who lost their lives in the senseless war and those who survived it, but had nothing to go back to. Nevertheless, Saddam Hussein held a month-long celebration in all Iraqi cities, for a victory that existed only in his head. In fact, he was so sure of his fictitious victory, he went two years later and invaded Kuwait and started a war that brought in more than thirty nations, including all the Western Superpowers, and insisted on continuing the fight all the way to the last moment of defeat. This time, after withdrawing from Kuwait in total defeat, he went a step further, not in re-writing history, but unfolding events. Just as his generals signed the surrender documents, he held a victory parade in the middle of an almost ruined Baghdad.
The war against ISIS has a different history though. It is a war conducted by Iraqi fighters, who were supported by every nation, except for those who created or supported terrorism in various ways. And as Iraqis were inches away from a final victory, even those switched sides. Having lost almost one third of total Iraqi area, and in the midst of total collapse in morale and lack of outside support, Iraqis pulled out all their human resources, regrouped, and launched a decisive counter offensive. They realized that it was not a war against ISIS alone. Iraqis fought a war against several regional powers that based their national interests on the defeat of Iraq, or at least on keeping it in chaos for as long as possible. Three and half years later, well ahead of the most optimistic analyses, Iraqis liberated all their lost territory, earned the respect of the world, and built in this painful process one of the most experienced fighting force.
While this victory counts for the Iraqi government, it’s planing, and pragmatically working with many incoherent international demands and its success in gathering international support, the greatest credit goes to the all-volunteer Iraqi forces and paramilitaries in all their backgrounds, who stood their ground for no incentive and with no motivation other than their patriotism and love for freedom and a life free from terrorism. The historic fatwa of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani was the first signal of this victory in this war. Therefore, not only Iraqis, but all those who stand to benefit from defeating this terrorist group owe him gratitude for his courage to issue a fatwa, the like of which was not given in a full century. Finally, the countries that supported Iraq along the fight, no matter how great or little their support has been, deserve a share in this victory, and Iraqis will remember them with gratitude, as they will remember those who were excited to see ISIS make gains in the first days, or during the days of set-back along during the war years. And if Iraqis are well-known for something, it is their long-term memory.
Finally, Iraqis must not treat this victory as a classic victory in a war among two countries. The fighting forces in this case are not withdrawing behind their border lines. Many of the defeated terrorists will still be among the Iraqis, waiting for another chance to strike. Therefore, there will be a great need to win the post-war era and meet the political, economic, and social challenges. Terrorists must be denied every opportunity to exploit a crisis for their advantage as they did before.
To consolidate this victory, Iraq’s day-after must focus on transparency, social reconciliation, development, democratization, and the rule of law.
* Abbas Kadhim is Senior Foreign Policy Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. (Twitter: @DrAbbasKadhim).