MIDDLE EAST: Transparency International, an international organisation has recently released a report in which governments, including the UK and the US, have been majorly accused of ignoring corruption as a major driver towards terrorism, notably in the Middle East, according to the report published in BBC.
It appeals to them to push far harder for accountability in military budgets.
The report comes as Iraqi forces advance on the IS stronghold of Mosul.
The report, titled The Big Spin, claims IS took advantage of corruption to radicalise and employ people, presenting itself as the cure while overlooking its own corrupt activities.
“Corruption is a rallying cry, an enabler and a key modus operandi for IS,” said Transparency International Defence and Security Director Katherine Dixon.
“The failure to grasp this undermines efforts to tackle the rise of violent extremism,” she said.
“The international community expends great efforts tackling the ‘ideology’ of groups such as ISIS, focusing on the religious rhetoric they produce, yet completely ignoring the material circumstances in which they thrive,” the director added.
A number of frequent themes used by the IS to recruit people have been identified by the Transparency International in its research.
IS is consistently using social media posts to highlight systematic corruption – including nepotism and bribery – while presenting itself as the only viable solution for justice, welfare and security.
According to Dixon, this inevitably means that the problem will have to be addressed at the highest level in order to defeat the IS.
Dixon – who co-authored the report also said, “What we shouldn’t be doing is putting western taxpayers’ money into helping create exploitative, predatory state forces.”
“This is not just about closing off the corrupt channels that enable the day-to-day operations of groups like IS, but rethinking relationships with the Mubaraks [in Egypt], Gaddafis [in Libya] and Malakis [in Iraq] of the future,” said Dixon.
“Corruption is a real security threat, more than just a means for elites to line their pockets. In the end, corrupt governments by fuelling public anger and undermining institutions, are the architects of their own security crises.”
