Trump, ISIL, and its Escalating Brutality

As we are living under siege in a city where one of the most violent wars is taking place in modern history, the war the Iraqi military and the people of Mosul are fighting against the caliphate state, we watched the US elections very closely. I was anticipating Trump’s winning; it was very obvious. Clinton’s chances to win the presidency against Trump were very slim despite all speculations of her winning, as the current circumstances, nationally and globally, seemed to be fit for Trump. This election is clear proof that the American people are directly affected by Obama’s foreign policy, and I believe that this election urges the American intellect to think clearly and revisit “Brixit” and Trump phenomena, and closely review how the events unfold during the Obama era.

But many Mosulis are asking: how is Clinton’s or Trump’s winning going to affect Mosul’s liberation? And how will the election’s results accelerate liberation ops?

I was asked by many people of my city in this regard whether Trump’s winning will vanquish ISIL in Iraq and Syria. I answered “The American policy is not this simple to apply, it is more complex than it is imagined. Liberation operations might take longer depending on the way ISIL is fighting, in addition to many unsolved issues in the Middle East. Mosul Question (and I am referring to the ‘Mosul Question’ term used after the first world war) has become an international issue, not a local matter anymore, and its resolution does not rely on regional powers”.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you your interest in the US elections, which had a similar level of interest to that of the Americans their selves, regardless of many issues that require our full focus, now and after liberation.

The battle for Mosul started over a month ago, the city still, half quite and half under fire. During the past few days, ISIL, for the first time, executed 50 young men after charges of spying. I am very certain those men were not spies and have no connection to any intel activity. Many of them were detained for false charges. Some were former police officers who already declared their repentance to ISIL, then ISIL, as usual, transgressed. Some were hung on power poles, some were crucified. All took place at the Western bank of Mosul. Some were thrown in the irrigation ditches and others were cut into pieces, and others were hung at Mosul’s enterance on what is known as “Sham Gate” (Bauwabat Al-Sham); it is Mosul’s gate from the North west side of the city. 

Children, men and women saw those corpses been displayed like this, and none was able to say a word. And what is surprising, one of ISIL fighters was reading Koran next to a hung corpse as he wad leaning to the power pole. He was reading Koran in full reverence, and keeps on taking a look at the head of the crucified corpse!

One of the crucified corpses on a power pole was still alive, covered with blood, no one dared to help him, and no one noticed he was alive. A child pointed at him and told his father “daddy, this man’s eyes are moving!” And everyone was shocked, did not know how to react, if they approach to save him they will end up being hung like him, and if they stay silent they’ll feel bad about him. The man was hanging there for more than 24 hours, but he didn’t die. After a few minutes, 4 fighters passed by him. One of them took a look at the hanging man and heard him painfully moaning and noticed his eyes were moving, then realized that the man was still alive, then said: “this filthy soul God has rejected it and his messenger rejected it, and they refused to take it back!” .. He pulls his gun and shoots the hanging man in the head and ends his life.

This is one of the most morally controversial and dilemmas a human being could ever confront.

The next day, all corpses have disappeared from the streets. We do not know where they were taken, but their images are still present on those poles, unable to unsee those scenes, and no matter what I do to forget them, just closing my eyes recreates the whole scene once more, for a thousand times.

What is even more horrifying, is that you can hear the voices of the crucified men as they talk! Yes they are dead, yet, they were talking loudly! They were telling their stories, what they were doing when they were alive? Who they saw last? What was their last meal? Who did they talked to last? What they had in mind for their lunch? What they had in mind for dinner? What they would like to do first thing after liberation? Their dreams? .. Thousands of questions could be heard coming off of their silent mouths and open eyes.

At Bab Al-tub, ISIL brought a child, no older than 10-12 years old, claimed to have stolen. They recited the fifth chapter of Koran, and when they reached to verse 38 which reads: ([As for] the thief, the male and the female, amputate their hands in recompense for what they committed as a deterrent [punishment] from Allah . And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.), All they said “this is the punishment of thieves”, they never said what did he steal, why did he steal, and how did he steal, all they did is one of them held the child’s arm, and the second was carrying a large chopper and chooped the child’s hand with it. It supposed to chop the hand with only one strike, but the hand was not fully chopped. While the man with the chopper tried to finish the job, the holder took the chopped hand and twisted the hand until it was detached from the child’s arm. The boy was severely bleeding and screaming until he passed out. Another ISIL member rushed to stop the bleeding, and the butcher said “Now Allah has cleared you of the sin you’ve committed, may this will pardon you in front of God at the day of judgment. May God forgive your sin, and you, who witnessed, shall you all learn from this”!

At the Eastern bank of Mosul, and the areas close to the battlefields, ISIL is confiscating houses and turn them into military barracks, and place their car bombs on the streets among occupied houses. People live an unfathomable fear for their lives.

I write to you feeling nothing, neither love, nor hate, nor fear, nor horror, nor safety, nor contentment, nor peace nor war. I feel nothing at all. I wish I can cry, may be that will help lifting off some , but I have lose all meaning, even for crying. All I can think of is the faces of the crucified men. I want to read their faces for a thousand times. I know there are millions of messages they left in their faces, or the blood the young boy have bled off of his hand. All of those drops is not enough to get the world to listen to us and believe what we ate going through.

Our fears are getting bigger everyday, and I still call for the international trusteeship for Mosul, and to grand Mosul a temporary transitioning period to administer its affairs and rebuild its relationship with Baghdad. This demand is a Mosuli demand, and we hope that the nations will meet our demand for the trusteeship.

We do not want to die, is this too much to ask for? We deserve to live, we deserve a second chance, not once but many chances to live. We want to rebuild our schools, we want to build a great museum in the city. We want to give ourselves another chance in life, to live in peace .. is this too much to ask for?

Do not forget Mosul

The founder of Mosul Eye