There cannot be a complete professional fighting force, professional meaning behavior wise especially when it comes to keeping to intl. laws and treatment of captives given that there is not one centralized army operating but multiple units. To add to that, many fighters are uneducated and have no clue how their behavior impacts this war on the different levels. Though that's not just limited to our region, some American troops made similar mistakes. Though ISF has been growing well in the right direction, when it comes to the region they've been operating in a clean way.
Don't know where the 10K number is from, I'd blame IS for most of that.
I believe in supporting the state/nation whichever side it is that rules, whether it was Saddam's regime or Abadi's administration. Ameri puts his political/religious/party first, different belief. Different motivation, same current goal when it comes to the ongoing war. However, I don't influence it. What will happen is that US military will stay in Iraq and then some side (pro US camp or pro Iran camp) will politically grow, either way haven't been there and its riddled with corruption, I can't integrate well there either way to start with so I might be wrong.
I am not worried about whether actual ISIS members are killed on the spot. That's not going to make me sleep bad at night. What I am saying is that I have seen reports and videos that give me reason to worry. I look at this in a much larger perspective and not just the battle itself. It was already clear from the second that ISIS gained control of Mosul that this control would be temporarily.
I am worried about whether mistakes committed by such forces will be counterproductive in terms of the real battle in Iraq which is centered around the political, social, religious (sectarian) and ethnic disagreements and power struggles. I am worried that this vicious cycle of violence might not end in our lifetime which would be a catastrophe not only for Iraq but the entire region.
However torturing suspected ISIS members and afterwards throwing them off roofs to shot at them from above after they landed, is not really what I associate with the Iraqi army. Here experienced officers should be clear and swift. Imagine what such videos can do if they reach youngsters, teenagers, children etc. from Mosul and other Iraqi Sunni Arab areas of Iraq. Such videos, if we assume that those people were ISIS members, can be used as a weapon to point out that the Iraqi army is no different from ISIS in their methods. It is a dangerous path.
ISIS has to be blamed for the destruction of Mosul but the leadership should closely study why this occurred (the underlying reasons - not talking about the military failure) and not commit such mistakes and learn from them.
Basically I am worried that an eventual military win over ISIS will lead to events that led before the actual rise of ISIS under Al-Maliki. This is where the Iraqi society needs to react even if that means criticizing certain conducts of the military, Shia militias or politicians.
For instance I find it worrying that people even have such ideas of wanting to destroy a city this big in their own country completely. Or that the mistrust is so big that they are of such an opinion.
Why do I dislike and in fact find persons such as Hadi al-Amiri counterproductive in this fight (not only limited to the military context)? Because he is seen by most Iraqi Sunni Arabs as what I described. Al-Abadi, once he gets more power and shows his worth over a longer time, will probably notice this problem and act accordingly by choosing someone with a better record.
This boils down to unity within the country. That should be above everything on the long run. Security will come naturally once that happens. Al-Abadi has done well and overall the work by the military has been above average and it will only improve with time.
However I used to warn about such issues almost 10 years ago and I was called crazy for speaking out against certain Al-Maliki policies and when I said that the few remnants of Al-Qaeda in Iraq might dwarf into something new one day.
I said it countless of times but had the US administration handled the regime change and transition differently back in 2003, they would probably not have faced such a significant resistance and AQI and later ISIS would not have been as powerful as they were.
Anyway it is easy to talk about the past. The key is the future and I only wrote that post because I found that video counterproductive and it disappointed me. Previously I had ignored supposed reports of such incidents but I took a look and I was left with worrying a bit.
Anyway I am of the same opinion in Yemen whenever the Arab coalition kills civilians as it is counterproductive. Luckily I have not seen more than 1-2 videos of Houthi prisoners being treated badly. I know that Houthis/Saleh are not ISIS and I am not comparing them I am just saying that this culture of revenge in the Arab world is often counterproductive. Sometimes we need to leave the pride and ego a bit.
Another thing, after the last areas of Iraq are freed from ISIS (Western Anbar and areas in Salah ad-Din and Kirkuk province) there is also the question of a certain land-grabbing group of people which is again worrying as Iraq should not waste lives, money and time on wars and conflicts constantly. There have been enough of this. Focus should be on economy, education, environment, infrastructure and what matters in peaceful societies. Hopefully this can happen as quickly as possible. A bit of nationalism rather than religious allegiance would also be very positive.
Example:
Such videos make me very happy. Nationals calling for the destruction of their own blood, makes me sad. Hope that you understand.
![[TR]AHMET](/data/avatars/m/27/27358.jpg?1397822937){kind=avatar}
