‘A moral duty’

The wresting by the Iraqi army of the major Iraqi city Tikrit from Daesh’s control a few days ago was a big victory for Baghdad.

It might also prove to be the moral encouragement that pushes the army to continue the fight to recapture other Iraqi cities from the grip of this terrorist gang.

The spectacular triumph, however, was marred by the burning and looting of residences and shops in the liberated city by irregular forces allied with the Iraqi army.

Burning buildings and pillaging is no way to conduct a war of liberation from the forces of evil.

What is there to distinguish the good guys from the bad with such behaviour?

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi, commenting on the grave violations, said that “only 67 houses and around 85 shops were burned, and it is a small number for a city with a population of 100,000 inhabitants”.

Well, it is 67 houses and 85 shops too many, if truth be told.

Yes, in armed conflicts there is unnecessary killing and destruction, but the Iraqi government, which wishes to differentiate itself from the brutal Daesh and turn a new page in the country’s history, should make a bigger effort to stop unbecoming behaviour on the part of the people under its control.

In the case of Tikrit, the finger was pointed at the Shiite militias, which are allied with the government forces but are not directly controlled or commanded by Baghdad.

Still, the government is responsible for reining in all paramilitary forces aiding its military effort in Iraq, and preventing them from committing crimes against humanity or war crimes that leave a bitter taste even after the victory over Daesh.

In a sermon delivered during last Friday prayers in the city of Karbala, top Iraqi Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani urged the government “to preserve and guard citizens’ properties in areas that have been liberated”.

Doing so, he added, “is a religious, national and moral duty”.

Such wise words need to be heeded if the momentum of the national effort to promote law and order based on justice is to be maintained.