On Friday, the Office of the highest –ranking religious Marja , Ali al-Sistani issued a statement on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Islamic Jihad Al-Kefai , which coincides with the fifth anniversary of the occupation of Nineveh province by the terrorist organization ISIS. In view of the importance of this statement, Rawabet center will analyze the content of its paragraphs as follows :
The statement said: “Like yesterday, June 13, 2014, five years ago, from this holy place , a call was launched by the highest religious Marja and its famous fatwa on the need for Kefai Jihad . It called on Iraqis who are able to take up arms to join the security forces to defend Iraq and its people and sanctities in front of the attack of terrorists ISIS , who had invaded vast areas in a number of provinces, and were threatening the capital Baghdad and other provinces as well, the heroes of Iraq , the elders and the young people and various social segments , moved to take up arms and rushed to the battlefields with unprecedented enthusiasm , and high determination and have fought for more than three years dozens of fierce battles with high efficiency, manifested in the tournament the finest images and the most noble meanings , and have sacrificed tens of thousands of martyrs, and many wounded and injured, in order to save the precious homeland and sacrifice for the sake of the sanctities , until they have achieved the great victory and managed to defeat the terrorists, and liberate the occupied lands from the abomination of the aggressors, and the elimination of their alleged state.
The speech began with the words: “I read you the text of the office of Sayyed Ahmed `al-Safi in Najaf on the occasion of the anniversary of the fatwa of the Jihad al-Kefai ” to confirm that the following is the clear position of Marja in relevant to the fatwa, which many try to place it in favor of armed groups or , parties that have armed militias, or even the popular crowd where no mention was made in the sermon , and the text was clear and the sermon called for the Iraqis to take up arms and to join the security forces to defend Iraq and its people, and to support the Iraqi army in its holy mission, sacrificed and still sacrificing , to maintain Iraq , all belong to the Iraqi armed forces which is highly respected by the Iraqi people, and that keeps the unity of Iraq, which represents the its universal identity, so the sanctification for it and not to others at all.
The statement added: This historic achievement would not have been possible if there was no unity among the Iraqis, their cohesion and unifying their ranks, overcoming the political forces of their differences and conflicts and being above their personal, national, sectarian and regional interests in favor of the supreme interest of the homeland and the citizen of various components of society.
Here, the highest –ranking religious Marja, Sayyed Ali al-Sistani , clearly points out that the victory achieved over the organization of the terrorist ISIS is due to the standing of the entire Iraqi people together against that enemy, which threatens the existence of all without exception, and that victory is a victory for all Iraqis at a historic moment in the history of their country where they have put their religious and national differences aside in order to preserve the unity of Iraqi soil and its social fabric of sub-identities, which are embedded in the crucible of Iraq’s universal identity.
He also said: We thank the cooperation of brotherly and friendly countries and their active contribution in helping Iraq to defeat al-Daheshi terrorism.
There is no doubt that this paragraph of the statement was written very carefully and is aware of what it refers to. It refers to all the Arab, regional and international countries that stood by Iraq in defeating the terrorist organization ISIS. This paragraph did not refer to a particular country, as some would like to explain it. The statement is only to thank Iran. The latter, was helping Iraq to purge it from the dowry of the terrorist organization ISIS, it is part of the complementary cooperative assistance among the countries that supported and assisted Iraq.
He also said: After the war was over, the clear victory was achieved, and the various regions were cleansed from the terrorists. The dispute was once again erupted, once is open and hidden other times, among the parties that took control of the power. The conflict between the forces was exacerbated among forces that wanted to preserve their former positions, and other powers emerged during the war with ISIS seeking to dedicate their presence and gain certain gains.
A clear reference to the attempts of partisan militias and institutions of the crowd to obtain political and economic gains, the religious Marja wants to remind them that Iraq belongs to everyone and not the property of an armed faction or political party.
He pointed out that “the stabbing on positions and sites, including the ministries of defense and interior, and the abhorrent quotas, prevent the completion of the ministerial reshuffle, and corruption is still rampant in the institutions of the state did not meet with clear practical steps to reduce it and hold accountable those involved.”
Here , the religious Marja refers to one of the intractable diseases of Iraq in the post-2003, the abhorrent sectarian and political quotas , which was one of the reasons for the weakness of the political process in Iraq, which led to the spread of corruption in all joints of the Iraqi state, as Iraq today comes according reports of the organization of the international transparency in the forefront of countries on which the administrative and financial corruption was spread , Iraq will not be reformed if the positions and ministerial positions continue to be run according to the abhorrent quotas.
“The administrative bureaucracy, the lack of employment opportunities and the acute shortage of basic services, with the exception of recent improvements in some of them, continue to cause suffering and hardship for the citizens,” the statement said.
This statement of Marja criticizes the situation in Iraq and criticizes the work of the Iraqi bureaucracy. Everyone knows that it is one of the suffering of the Iraqi people. Most of the bureaucratic work is not dealt without giving bribes by citizens to carry out their transactions , so it was turned to be an additional boring burden on the shoulders of the citizens , the statement also asks how a country like Iraq, which is rich in wealth where its youth suffer from unemployment and its society suffers from a severe shortage of services such as electricity, water and health, not only this but the statement warned that the continuation of these conditions could lead to undesirable consequences.
the statement added , “The laws that have granted unfair privileges to certain groups at the expense of the rest of the people remain valid and have not been amended,” . This is a clear indication of the lack of social justice and laws enacted by the legislative authority in Iraq serve a certain class of Iraqi people at the expense of the majority of people and this may create a general state of anger that may escalate with the days, if not handled properly, and it is not permissible at all that a very small proportion of the sons of Iraq enjoy the wealth of Iraq and the vast majority only harvest misery and suffering
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The statement added that “the continuation of the conflict over the spoils and gains and the raising of security, tribal and sectarian problems here or there for specific purposes and not rushing to address the problems of the regions affected by the war on terrorism gives remnants of ISIS a suitable opportunity to carry out some attacks against security and stability , as the followers of ISIS may find incubators for them in the some of the complainers , which will add new complications to the complexities of the Iraqi scene.
“The normalization of the situation in these areas and the provision of security on the basis of professionalism respects the inviolability of the citizen and give him the opportunity to live in dignity and decent life, and prevent infringement and encroachment on his legal rights, is absolutely necessary, otherwise, the risk of return of the country to the circumstances that we do not forget its pain and tragedies will increase .
Here, we find an explicit call from the statement asking the rulers in Iraq to pay attention to the areas affected by the war on the terrorist organization ISIS , to provide a decent life and security for them, warning – the statement – to ignore those areas, fearing that a situation of discontent among its people will be created and among its results is the recreation the experience of ISIS , taking advantage of the preoccupation of the political forces in their conflicts about the sharing of spoils.
“Those concerned with the security file should be very careful about what could happen as a result of the factors mentioned above, deal fully with this important and sensitive file, pay special attention to the intelligence effort to thwart terrorist schemes prior to its implementation, and to provide accurate surveillance to the areas that could be stations for their movements, and do not allow any negligence or dereliction in this field . ”
The statement calls on the security services to be vigilant and take into consideration the intelligence reports to counter any terrorist act that affects the security and stability of Iraq. Iraq must go to the future, and the delay in Iraq is sufficient caused by many conditions, including the emergence of a terrorist organization ISIS that is defeated , Security and stability is the natural entrance to the future of Iraq, progress in its various forms and security are two sides of the same coin.
The statement concluded by saying: “A tribute to the great martyrs and the loved ones in their families, to the dearer of the wounded fighters and the disabled, and to the heroic men in the various branches of the armed forces and the security services who are responsible for the security and stability of the homeland and the protection of citizens and residents. We ask Allah to protect them and may Allah lead their steps on the straight path for the service of the country and people , god is the most merciful
In the greetings of the martyrs, the fighters and the wounded, the statement concluded: Without those heroic people and their great sacrifices, the organization of ISIS would continue to cause damage in the land of Iraq and spread the corruption . The statement also paid tribute to the men of the homeland in various forms of the security apparatus, the watchful eyes to preserve Iraq’s security and sovereignty.
Iraqi Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies