Spring flower
Since the beginning of October, there have been major demonstrations in the capital Baghdad and other cities in the south of the country to demand better services, job opportunities and anti-corruption. It was also remarkable that they uploaded pictures of the counterterrorism chief Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, demanding that he be reinstated after being transferred to a job. Office at the Ministry of Defense.
Al-Saadi was born in Sadr City, east of Baghdad in 1963.He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Mosul, then entered the military college in Baghdad and graduated in 1985 as a lieutenant, and entered the Staff College and graduated in 1996 as a major, then entered the College of Leadership and graduated there. Colonel, most recently at the Military College where he earned a master's degree in military science and worked as a professor in 2000.
| Al-Saadi during a battle against ISIS (websites) |
ISIS battles
His first major military assignment was to lead the counterterrorism force after ISIS took control of Anbar province, and within a short time he was able to regain it from ISIS, becoming a prominent popular leader, and has completed the restoration of other areas under ISIS control, prompting the military leadership. Appointed as the commander of Salah al-Din operations, he has succeeded in restoring the Baiji oil refinery, Iraq's largest oil refinery, from ISIS.
In the northern province of Nineveh, al-Saadi led military units that took responsibility for the restoration of the eastern axis of the city of Mosul, one of the fiercest battles he fought, because this axis was the last stronghold of ISIS, until it became famous among the residents of Mosul after the restoration of their city from the hands of ISIS in 2017 .
During these battles, a video was posted on social media platforms showing al-Saadi hugging a girl from Mosul who was looking for him in the alleys, until she saw him and rushed towards him crying, and thanked him for liberating their city from the control of the organization.
Al-Saadi was wounded several times during the war against ISIS, which kept him out of the battlefields for months, but returned to it after recovering.His success in quickly recovering Iraqi cities from ISIS grip with minimal human and material losses prompted analysts to place him on the list of military commanders. Prominent in Iraq.
Exemption from office
In September, Iraqis were surprised by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's decision to transfer al-Saadi to the Ministry of Defense (an office job), a move that drew widespread discontent among the people. His case became street talk and social media platforms, and demands for his return to office were the most prominent slogans. Demonstrators who carried his image in the protests, the rare time the protesters demanded the return of a military official to the post.
The reasons for al-Saadi's exemption from his duties are unclear so far, and he considered it an insult to him and his military rank and history, he told Iraqi media, noting that all officers in the leadership of the Iraqi security forces trained by his hands at the Staff College.
Saadi also received support from prominent Iraqi politicians, led by former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who said in a tweet on Twitter that "there is corruption related to the sale of positions in military and security institutions," and said, "What is how the state rewards its fighters who defended the homeland."
What is the state rewards its fighters who defended the homeland ..! Certainly there are contexts for changing or rotating military and security positions, but they must be based on professionalism and not forsaking those who have come to the people and the country in difficult days. |
In 2018, the municipality of the city of Mosul erected a statue of Saadi, in honor of his achievements in liberating the city from ISIS.The people of Mosul gathered around the monument to unveil it, but the security forces prevented them from doing so and removed the monument.