Iraq Marks Anniversary of Islamic State Defeat

 

Iraq has celebrated¹ the anniversary of its costly² victory over the Islamic State group.

The government declared victory last December after a three-year war that killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

The Islamic State has lost nearly all the territory it once held. But its forces continue to carry out attacks on Iraqi targets.

The government declared Monday a national holiday. Security stations in Baghdad, were covered with Iraqi flags and balloons, as security forces walked the streets, playing patriotic³ music.

As part of the celebrations, the government plans to reopen parts of Baghdad’s well-guarded Green Zone to the public. Officials hope the move will calm protests against corruption⁴ and poor public services. The Green Zone is home to major government offices and foreign embassies.

The celebrations come as political disputes have affected⁵ efforts to form a new Iraqi government.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi spoke⁶ to a group of military officers about the anniversary. He described Monday as a great “day for all of us when our brave country defeated the enemies of life, dignity, freedom and peace.”

Abdul-Mahdi congratulated the security forces as well as the country’s top Shiite clergyman, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The clergyman approved a fatwa, or religious order, that brought in volunteers after the Iraqi army seemingly collapsed⁷ in June 2014. Tens of thousands of volunteers joined state-supported militias⁸, many of them financed by Iran.

That fatwa laid “the foundations of the victory,” Abdul-Mahdi said. He called on Iraqis to leave behind their differences and to come together for a better future.

“The time has come to leave behind all the past mistakes…to open the doors of hope for our children for a better future,” he said. He promised to rebuild the destroyed areas and help displaced people return to their homes.

“All Iraqis took part in this fight, those who couldn’t take up arms fought with words and donations,” said Qassim al-Fatlawi, who lives in Baghdad. He helped raise money for the militias.

Songs praising the militias, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, could be heard coming from his small business in the city’s Karrada neighborhood. On Monday, the area was filled with Iraqi flags.

“That victory…is a golden opportunity for the government to rebuild the country and to meet the needs of its people,” said Sameer al-Obaidi. He led a group of people who presented flowers to security forces in Baghdad’s Azamiyah neighborhood.

“It is important to treat all Iraqis equally so that they feel that their sacrifices are appreciated,” al-Obaidi added.

The Islamic State (IS) group grew from the violent opposition⁹ that followed the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Based in Syria, IS forces crossed in Iraq in the summer of 2014. The Iraqi army collapsed, leaving the group to govern with a crushing form of Islamic rule. Thousands of people were killed. The group also kidnapped thousands of women and girls from the Yazidi religious minority and forced them into sexual slavery.

Iraqi forces aided by a U.S.-led coalition¹⁰ fought to remove the group from all the territory it once held in Iraq. They fought to free Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul. Today, Islamic State controls a small piece of territory in Syria, near the Iraqi border.

Iraq is still badly affected by the violent rule of Islamic State.

More than 1.8 million Iraqis remain displaced across the country. More than 8 million require some form of humanitarian¹¹ aid. That number comes from the Norwegian Refugee Council. Those with suspected links to IS have been rejected by their communities. Thousands of children fathered by IS militants¹² are still unrecognized by the state.

Nearly two-thirds of displaced people say they are unwilling¹³ or unable to return home in the next year. And more than half say their homes were damaged or destroyed, said the aid group.

“If this is what ‘victory’ looks like, then there is little to celebrate…” said Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary General Jan Egeland. “They have largely been forgotten by their own government and the international community.”

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

patriotic – adj. having or showing great love and support for your country

dignity– n. a way of appearing or behaving that suggests seriousness and self-control

foundation– n. something such as an idea, a principle, or a fact that provides support for something

mobilization– n. to make soldiers, or an army, ready for war

opportunity– n. a chance; possibility

appreciate– v. to admire and value something or someone

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

11 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

13 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。