US must not take victory lap over Daesh defeat

After more than eight months of fighting, USbacked Iraqi forces this week succeeded in liberating Mosul - Iraq’s second-largest city - from the barbaric Daesh movement. On Tuesday, there was also a report from a human rights group with a good record of insights into the Syrian civil war that Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi has been killed in that ravaged nation, where the terror group has also steadily been losing ground.

Given that the victory in Mosul means a respite from carnage that left many thousands dead, a feeling of accomplishment is appropriate — but not a sense of satisfaction. That’s because whether the topic is Iraq in particular or the larger picture of Islamist terrorism, there is much to worry about.

The Shiites who control Iraq’s government still aren’t trusted by the nation’s Sunni minority. They welcomed or tolerated the arrival of Daesh fighters and are likely to have a similar attitude about a future uprising — unless they are treated more equitably.

Reaching out to minority

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi has proven more adept than his recent predecessors and appears to understand that reaching out to the minority is crucial. There’s been talk of moving to a more decentralised government — allowing Sunnis much more control in the areas where they are predominant — and of sharing oil wealth more broadly among all regions.

So there are reasons for hope. But given that the Shiite-Sunni schism dates back to Islam’s founding in AD632 — and that the intense fight for regional dominance between Iran and Saudi Arabia has only intensified in recent years — Iraq could soon be a proxy war battlefield again.

Meanwhile, all the factors that drive terrorism among young disaffected Muslims remain firmly in place — lack of economic prospects in Europe and the Middle East, resentment of Western affluence and perceived decadence, hatred of the United States.