THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- December 14, 2017- Topic 2
IS was?: On Islamic State’s defeat
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider
al-Abadi has declared victory over the Islamic State, signalling an end to more
than three years of battle that saw Iraqi troops first fleeing without their
weapons and then, with foreign assistance, regrouping to recover lost territory.
At the peak of its influence, the IS controlled almost a third of Iraq,
including Mosul, its second largest city.
Mr. Abadi, who took over as Prime
Minister in September 2014 when the country was in the middle of the
civil war, adopted a cautious,
gradualist approach with direct help from the United States and Iran to take on
the IS. Iraqi troops first stopped the IS’s southward expansion in the suburbs
of Baghdad and then started offensive operations in the group’s small pockets
of influence. After capturing cities such as Ramadi and Fallujah, Iraqi troops
moved to Mosul, the jewel in the IS crown. Iran-trained Shia militias and
Kurdish Peshmerga troops joined the ground battle, as the U.S. provided air
cover. When Mosul was liberated in July after nine months of fighting, it was
arguable whether a final victory over the IS was just a matter of time. Mr.
Abadi claims Iraqi soldiers have established control over the vast Iraq-Syria
border after ousting IS fighters from small border towns where they had
retreated after losing urban areas.
For Mr. Abadi and the Iraqi
military, this is a moment of both relief and accomplishment. But it may be far
too simplistic to conclude that Iraq is totally rid of the IS threat. Perhaps a greater challenge they face is
healing the wounds of the civil war. Iraq is a divided country today. The
resource-rich south, which is mostly Shia, supports the government and is
relatively peaceful. In the war-stricken north and west, there is no doubting
that people feel alienated from the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad. The
Kurdish Autonomous Region has already held a referendum, against the wishes of
Baghdad, in which a majority of voters supported independence. If the
government fails to tackle these divisions and lets parts of the country drift
into anarchy again, groups like the IS will find it an easy breeding ground and
regain a footing. The IS may have lost territory, but it would be blind to deny
that the group doesn’t exist anymore. It is not known, for instance, what
happened to its self-declared Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In Syria it still
controls territory, even if it is under growing pressure of Russian-American
bombing and Kurdish attacks. In 2006-07, al-Qaeda in Iraq had faced similar
military setbacks. But when Iraq’s sectarian rivalry took a turn for the worse
and civil war broke out in Syria, it regrouped and reinvented itself as the IS.
Mr. Abadi has to see that this doesn’t repeat itself. In order to do so, he
must, besides keeping the military on alert, reach out to the country’s
disaffected Sunnis and Kurds. Only a united Iraq can hold off the resurrection
of the extremists.
Vocabulary
Battle: a sustained fight
between large, organized armed forces.
Example: The Battle of Shiloh
Synonyms: fight, armed conflict, clash, struggle, skirmish, engagement
Flee: run away from a place
or situation of danger.
Example: A man was shot twice as he
fled from five masked youths
Synonyms: run
(away/off), run for it, make a run for it, dash, take
flight
Influence: the capacity to have
an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something,
or the effect itself.
Example: The influence of television
violence
Synonyms: effect, impact, control, sway, hold, power, authority, mastery
Cautious: careful to avoid
potential problems or dangers.
Example: A cautious driver
Synonyms: careful, heedful, attentive, alert, watchful, vigilant, circumspect
Troops: come or go together or
in large numbers.
Example: The girls trooped in for
dinner
Synonyms: walk, march, file, proceed, flock, crowd, throng, stream
Offensive: causing someone to
feel deeply hurt, upset, or angry.
Example: The allegations made are
deeply offensive to us
Synonyms: insulting, insolent, derogatory, disrespectful, hurtful, wounding
Ousting: drive out or expel
someone from a position or place.
Example: He ousted a long-term
incumbent by only 500 votes
Synonyms: drive
out, expel, force out, throw out
Retreat: withdraw from enemy
forces as a result of their superior power or after a defeat.
Example: The French retreated in
disarray
Synonyms: withdraw, retire, draw
back, pull back/out, fall back, give way, give ground
Heal: cause a wound, injury,
or person to become sound or healthy again.
Example: His concern is to heal sick
people
Synonyms: curative, therapeutic, medicinal, remedial, corrective, reparative
Alienate: cause someone to feel
isolated or estranged.
Example: An urban environment that
would alienate its inhabitants
Synonyms: estrange, divide, distance, put at a distance, isolate, cut
off
Anarchy: a state of disorder
due to absence or nonrecognition of authority.
Example: He must ensure public order
in a country threatened with anarchy
Synonyms: lawlessness, nihilism, mobocracy, revolution, insurrection
Breeding: the mating and
production of offspring by animals.
Example: Palolo worms use the moon to
time their breeding
Synonyms: reproduction, procreation, mating; rearing, raising, nurturing
Setback: a reversal or check in
progress.
Example: A serious setback for the
peace process
Synonyms: problem, difficulty, hitch, complication, upset, disappointment
Disaffected: dissatisfied with the
people in authority and no longer willing to support them.
Example: A military plot by
disaffected elements in the army
Synonyms: dissatisfied, disgruntled, discontented, malcontent, frustrated
Resurrection: the action or fact of
resurrecting or being resurrected.
Example: The story of the
resurrection of Osiris
Extremist: a person who holds
extreme or fanatical political or religious views, especially one who resorts
to or advocates extreme action.
Example: Political extremists
Synonyms: fanatic, radical, zealot, fundamentalist, militant, activist, ultra
