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Corruption lets Iraqi criminals off the hook

Weak institutions and corruption mean that major crimes in Iraq are not being investigated or prosecuted.
Protesters demand that the pensions of parliamentarians be cancelled during a demonstration in Baghdad August 31, 2013. Thousands are rallying across Iraq against corruption and the financial privileges of lawmakers and political leaders.  REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT CIVIL UNREST) - RTX132IA
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In 2014, Iraq suffered significant terrorist activity, even including high treason, that led to the fall of Mosul and Tikrit to the Islamic State (IS) in April 2014. In the same month, at the Speicher military base, IS forces captured and executed 1,700 army cadets. Six months later, officials have yet to determine whose negligence allowed these crimes to happen or to punish those responsible for the violence.

It seems that both crimes will be forgotten and their perpetrators unpunished, as was the case for dozens of others committed in Iraq in the past few years. The kidnapping of the Iraqi Olympic Committee in July 2006, 150 members of a delegation from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in December 2006 in Baghdad and the national Taekwondo team (which was killed) in 2006 are just a few examples on these forgotten crimes.

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