Thanks to Rod Dreher, I ran across this interview of a Mosul-based blogger who’s chronicling life under ISIS. I’d encourage you to read the entire thing, but this exchange stood out to me:
In your opinion, what are the factors that contributed to the fall of Mosul?
The relationship between the citizens of Mosul and the Iraqi government was not good. The way the Iraqi army acted in Mosul was not good. That said, the entire city did not welcome ISIS. In the beginning, they welcomed an unknown power entering the city to replace the old “suppressing” one, and the media did not report that these were ISIS fighters. Ordinary people could not read between the lines to see what was happening. We also need to examine views about radical Islam in the city. How did they perceive figures like Osama bin Laden, or terrorist attacks like those of September 11, 2001? Many people in Mosul admired such figures and acts even before 2003; this helped such a radical group to prevail and overrun the city.
How do you describe the feelings of Mosul inhabitants today?
Many of them are creating their own worlds to live in, a world in the street different from that in their homes. They cannot trust anybody, in some cases not even their family members. There is a state of fear, just like in the times of Saddam Hussein. People look at ISIS as a cruel, terrifying entity imposing harsh rules, but it provides services that people need. They try to reconcile these two things. But I am afraid that people will not be able to continue to do this for long, and that they will surrender within five months to totalitarian governance under ISIS.
How has life in the city changed?
Everything has changed. Gender segregation is imposed everywhere; women are forced to veil their faces, and men must wear long beards. There is a wave of radicalization among young children, which parents are unable to do anything against. Young people are learning a radical ideology even more extremist than that of the current example. Still amid this rise of radicalism, there is a hidden countervailing rise in atheism. People have started to ask questions like “Is God happy with all this killing?” or “Is Islam a problem?” Some have concluded that atheism is the only way to liberate the city.
It’s interesting that the blogger goes back to before the American invasion in 2003 to note some underlying Iraqi sympathy for Osama bin Laden, but what’s truly disturbing is his revelation that ISIS is succeeding in radicalizing the young — and parents are helpless. The very idea that they are learning a ”radical ideology even more extremist than that of the current example” is chilling indeed. The Obama administration seems to be banking on the notion that oppressed people will eventually reject ISIS — and the turn towards atheism indicates some rejection of the group — but it’s simply reckless to believe that the rejection would be universal. Some — especially young men — will be continue to be attracted to ISIS, and ISIS now has an entire education system at its disposal:
What does the educational system look like now?
ISIS has changed the entire curriculum and has printed its own radical books. The man supervising the new curriculum is a historian from Mosul University. ISIS abolished the faculties of arts, fine arts, political science, and law. Children are forced to wear the Afghani attire, and schools are nothing but places to prepare new ISIS fighters; they concentrate on military training more than education. This is quite dangerous. Many families are not sending their children to school, for fear they will be radicalized. Many kidnapped Yazidi and Shiite Turkmen, as well as children in the orphanages, are being radicalized.
While we wait, trying to contain jihadists with pinprick strikes here and pinprick strikes there, ISIS is building for the future. As the blogger notes, “We have a hidden army now, those teenagers with such a radical vision that it is beyond imagining.” Every day, every week, and every month that ISIS rules cities means a new day, week, and month to not just recruit new jihadists from abroad but also to train and equip them from the local population. ISIS isn’t just building an army, it’s building a religious movement. While there is some hope that the “hidden” opposition will grow, we’re fools if we’re counting on ISIS to destroy itself through its own excesses. Its excesses are critical to its jihadist appeal.