[December 15, 2017] On several occasions here at theLeaderMaker.com I’ve bemoaned the fact that moral courage is lacking in much of Western civilization. Physical courage, on the other hand, is still there if we only look for it and it is good to see when it happens. Just this week, the courageous man behind the Mosul Eye revealed himself.1
On June 18, 2014, a week after the Iraqi city of Mosul fell to the terror group ISIS, Mosul Eye was born. The Mosul Eye on Facebook was the eyewitness account of the atrocities fostered upon the citizens of this once great city by the terror machine. Those folks were the ones who did not leave because they thought ISIS would bring them stability, social recognition, and justice. Exactly the opposite occurred.
Call it the documentation of history … a firsthand witness account of the daily brutality of ISIS in a city filled with religious peoples who simply wanted to live their lives honorably. Omar Mohammed went to where ISIS conducted their trials and executions; putting his life and his family’s lives in danger at each turn. The stress showed and he was desperate to escape the violence but stayed where it did the most good. The story of his bravery and honor is documented in several articles on the web (see links here, here, and here).
History is the documentation of events of the past and highlighting of significant events. That is what Mohammed has done and worth reading his blog to see for ourselves the true horror of terrorism. We are fortunate that this man had the strength to go places in the city where a normal person would flee.
I was fortunate to stumble upon Mohammed’s posts on his Facebook page a couple of years ago. Using Google translate, I was able to gain an appreciation of what it was like in Mosul. Mosul is a city to be admired. It was one of the cities I visited while stationed in Iraq with the U.S. Army. The city was much safer than Baghdad or the many towns and cities south of Mosul.
The withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country in 2011 was a turning point for ISIS and for the ultimate destruction of Mosul and its citizens. It shows how the strategic decision of President Barack Obama led directly to the deaths of many Iraqis and how terror gripped so much of that nation. The battles being fought there are still on-going and deserve our attention now more than ever.
There are important lessons here for leaders. First, leaders must support those who show courage; moral or physical courage. Second, leaders should seek out those who demonstrate promise as future leaders. And third, leaders must show others what courage is about, talk about it, and remind everyone of the values of such an effort.
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