The video below purports to show captured ISIS extremists. I was disturbed to see Iraqi soldiers kicking and hitting them. I am an Iraqi Christian. These extremists have committed horrible crimes against my people and against all Iraqis. My hometown, a Christian town near Mosul, has been emptied as residents fled from the ISIS advance. My grandfather was captured, robbed and forced to walk out of town to safety by these people. I have no sympathy for them.
However, I strongly believe that we must maintain the moral high ground in this fight. Once captured, these prisoners should be treated humanely and provided with due process and trials. If they are found guilty (we must remember that innocent Sunnis have been killed and tortured by Iraqi forced in the past in anti-terrorism campaigns) they should be imprisoned or executed depending on the nature of their crimes.
I am sympathetic to the Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers. They have watched their friends and comrades being slaughtered by the thousands by ISIS extremists. I also know that there would not be any due process or humane treatment at the hands of ISIS.
But we cannot adopt the evil methods of our enemies lest we become them. War ravages the soul and we must do all we can to protect ourselves and our sanity from the temptation to savagery. I sincerely hope that the Iraqi and Kurdish governments provide clear guidelines on the treatment of prisoners.
