News & Events
ARTICLE: Can Iraq defeat ISIL without destroying Mosul?
By Zaid Al-Ali, October 31, 2016
AL-JAZEERA: The outcome of Iraq’s military campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is beyond doubt. ISIL was never the mythical fighting force that many people assumed, and it was always just a matter of time until the Iraqi army would regroup and reorganise.
With its vastly superior numbers, armaments, funding and international support, the military will push ISIL out of its last redoubts within Iraq’s territory, possibly before the end of this year.
Without minimising the seriousness of the military campaign and the sacrifices of the individuals in uniform who are risking so much to liberate their country from ISIL, Iraq’s more determinant challenges will lie elsewhere.
It is now standard fare among analysts that Iraq’s long-term objective must be to prevent the emergence of “al-Qaeda 3.0” and that the Iraqi state must enact a number of common-sense measures to prevent the jihadists from remobilising within a few years.