ABC News Story on "Liberation" from ISIS in Iraq

Most of us can agree that ISIS is an evil outfit. But does that mean that the fight against ISIS is always a good one? Not when it involves brutality and torture at the same level as the Islamic State.

Thanks to an Iraqi journalist named Ali Arkady, we have a glimpse into acts of torture, rape, and execution undertaken by members of the Emergency Response Division of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, with which Arkady was embedded starting in November of 2016.

In late May of 2017, ABC news aired a powerful story based on the footage Arkady filmed. Viewing the graphic video is quite disturbing for those who are repulsed by gratuitous violence and cruelty. However, it is also eye-opening and brings home the senseless violence on our anti-ISIS side of the conflict.

There is a longer and broader history here. One prior moment comes from an interview which U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright gave on CBS News’ 60 Minutes in 1996. When asked about the deaths of an estimated 500,000 Iraqi children resulting from U.S. sanctions against the government of Saddam Hussein, Albright answered that it was a very hard choice, but “we think the price is worth it.”

The price inflicted by sanctions against the Hussein regime was not worth it, and neither is the price of “liberation” from ISIS by the Emergency Response Division.

Curtis Cooper

My hometown is Baltimore, USA. After working as an attorney for two small law firms, first in West Virginia and then in Baltimore, I opened a solo law office in April, 2007. My wife is from a town outside of Almaty, Kazakhstan, and we have three children. My primary activism is through the National Lawyers Guild. I enjoy reading and writing, both in English and Russian.

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