After Military Victory, Iraq Chases ISIS Intellectually, in the Media

Iraq's Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 16, 2017. (AP)

The “Third International Conference Against Fighting ISIS Propaganda” kicked off in Baghdad on Wednesday, less than a week after Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced the military defeat of ISIS in Iraq.
 
Over 120 international experts and advisors, representing 42 countries, are taking part in the conference, which would witness ten 10 discussion sessions on how to counter ISIS activities in the information technology and globalization environment and invest the declaration of victory over ISIS to promote international peace and security.
 
The first day events included an opening session attended by senior officials and military leaders, as well as academics in various fields.
 
In a speech delivered on the occasion, Iraq’s Deputy National Security Adviser Safaa Sheikh talked about the nature of military operations launched by Iraqi forces against ISIS, since the beginning of the confrontation towards the end of 2014 until the announcement of the final victory last Sunday.
 
Sheikh called for further promoting international cooperation, strengthening information exchange and intensifying scientific efforts to combat the propaganda of ISIS.
 
For his part, Conference Spokesman Dr. Haider Al-Aboudi told Asharq Al-Awsat that although ISIS no longer represents an imminent military threat, It still poses intellectual and media dangers, which require steady efforts and efficient methods to counter such threats.
 
“The broad participation in the conference, especially by the American and British embassies and the International Alliance, highlights the support for Iraq in the various areas to confront ISIS at the intellectual and media levels,” he said.
 
He also noted that the frameworks of Wednesday’s sessions were information operations and how to combat the propaganda activities of ISIS, especially in cyberspace, as well as the need to invest the Iraqi victory in the promotion of international peace and security.
 
In an address to the conference, the US Charge d'Affaires in Baghdad, Joey Hood, said that his country, with the participation of the international coalition, continues to support Iraq.
 
He pointed out that the US has destroyed many of the sources of funding used by terrorists, revealing that an operation executed by the United States with “social networking companies has led to the closure of thousands of promotional pages for terrorists.”