Militarization of Iraqi society is intensifying
The fight against the Islamic State is leading increasing numbers of civilians to take up arms and defend their territory.
BABIL, Iraq — Hassan al-Saadi, an elementary teacher in the Mahmoudiyah district south of Baghdad, pointed at the banners hanging on the facades of high-rises. “The banners praise the popular mobilization forces and the army," he told Al-Monitor. "Meanwhile, the banners along the road in the southern part of Baghdad toward the central and southern cities have slogans in favor of political parties and warring factions.”
One of the banners depicted fighters digging a trench in southern Baghdad, in Jurf al-Sakhr. Some officials, such as Karbala Deputy Gov. Jassem al-Fatlawi, say that the trench has prevented Islamic State (IS) fighters from infiltrating Karbala, the city holy to Shiites that lies near Jurf al-Sakhr, which was liberated from IS on Oct. 26, with IS fighters getting pushed out toward the Ramadi desert.
Another banner honored Iraqi army soldiers killed in the battles around Babil and Karbala against IS. The banners illustrate how civil life in Iraq is gradually being militarized. Ali Hassan, a lieutenant in the Iraqi army, told Al-Monitor, “The militarization is only natural, as the country is in a state of war, and all efforts must be harnessed to achieve victory.”
Hassan is unsurprised by the military mobilization among the people. “The religious authority [Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani] has called upon people to take up arms,” he said. At Friday sermons, there has been a great deal of focus on “religious mobilization and calls to volunteer on the war fronts,” Hassan said. Shiite religious authorities have couched the fight against IS as a religious war.
