The absence of real military and intelligence institutions in Iraq following the US occupation of the country has nurtured an atmosphere of insecurity and lawlessness that helped facilitate the prison breakout, political analyst Najim Al-Qassab told RT.
Hundreds of convicts escaped from an Iraqi prison on Monday,
among which were numerous senior Al-Qaeda terrorists. A
military-style raid to free the militants had been conducted on
the facility, located on the outskirts of Baghdad, during which
suicide bombers rammed explosive-laden cars into its gates. Ten
policemen and four militants were killed and between 500-1000
broke free.
Al-Qassab believes that this security problem was not a
standalone incident, and in post-2003 Iraq their frequency is
down to a lack of proper institutions endowed with the structure
and ability to detect and quash militant activity.
RT: Blasts and security violations are increasing
these days in Iraq; do you think the Iraqi government is
responsible for these security violations?
Najim Al-Qassab: Definitely; such security violations as
those which took place in Abu-Ghraib and Taji prisons are not the
first of their kind nor will be the last. Similar incidents took
place in Basrah, Salahuddin, and Baghdad during which thousands
of prisoners managed to escape. I believe all parties are
responsible; the government, the parliament and even
citizens. There was no realistic vision on how to better
achieve security and stability for citizens and for providing
protection for people. The legal and legitimate duty of the
government is to protect all citizens of Iraq. Many reasons stand
behind these violations, on top comes the financial corruption in
the military institution represented by importing military
equipment of low technical specifications such as [aircraft],
sonars, and some of them do not work at all.
Another reason is the political rivalry and disputes among
the main political blocs which weakened the armed forces
whose number exceeds one million two hundred elements, and
this in turn has encouraged the terrorists groups to carry out
their attacks.
RT: Despite all these violations, no action is
taken to hold the security leaders responsible for failing to
prevent such attacks?
NQ: Sure, no step like this will be taken simply because
the political system adopted in Iraq after 2003 is a quota system
which allows the political parties and blocs to share
positions. Hence, Sunnis, Shiite, Kurds, all take part in
leading the military institution; but everybody denies
responsibility. Iraqis are upset and resentment is everywhere;
the state’s prestige has come to an end. Billions of dollars are
allocated for the military institution, yet, it seems futile.
Where is the intelligence capacity? They should penetrate these
terrorist groups and prevent them from carry out their attacks
before they occur. Let’s remember that after 2003 no real
reconstruction took place; the American occupation did not try to
build a real military institution, rather it was penetrated by
militias.
RT:An Interior Ministry spokesman stated yesterday that
the attacks on Abu-Ghraib and Taji prisons were too powerful to
be addressed in any way. Speaking about security violations, many
blasts daily, attacks, etc., are the security leaders and
government to blame for these violations, or the so-called
terrorist groups which have become too powerful to be faced?
NQ: The problem is the absence of trust between the
citizens and members of the armed forces. People trust neither
the police elements nor their explosive detection equipment.
These sonars are out of order in fact; they are incapable of
detecting explosives. The police are cheating the Iraqis with
these sonars. Second, the soldier mistrusts his commander and
this is because many of them bribe these officers to get
employment. This is true for all the military institutions.
People pay to get jobs. So a soldier or a policeman joined
military institutions to get a salary only and not to protect
Iraq and the citizens of Iraq. Moreover, almost all commanders in
the military institutions are from the former regime of Saddam
Hussein and Baathists. These Baathists managed to penetrate
almost all institutions of the state; they even succeeded in
penetrating the Islamic parties themselves.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.