Iraq’s abuse of civilians will make it easy for the next version of the extremist group to recruit.
BAGHDAD ― As the grim scene played out on my computer screen in Baghdad on July 12, my stomach sank.
I was watching a video clip of men in Iraqi army uniforms throwing a detainee off a cliff onto the banks of a river and opening fire on him. As he fell and landed next to another motionless body, I couldn’t help but think that this footage could breathe new life into the self-proclaimed Islamic State or ISIS or whatever ISIS 2.0 will be called now that its Iraqi “capital” has fallen. Such unchecked abuse, I thought, as Baghdad celebrated the liberation of Mosul on the streets below, would likely drive more enraged men into the hands of these extremists.
I first came across the clip, one of many depicting Iraqi forces committing abuses such as torture and execution, the day before on Facebook. It stood out because it featured a particularly disturbing form of execution and took place in a location that was far too familiar to me.
Source: The Fall Of Mosul May Not Be The End Of ISIS But The Beginning Of ISIS 2.0
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