The Iraqi Parliament is set to present this Sunday the first reading of a proposal to bring back compulsory military service throughout the country, suspended since 2003 by the then Coalition Provisional Authority, the temporary government led by American Paul Brenner after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in the US invasion of the country.
The bill, under the title «Serve the Flag,» has been drafted by the parliament’s Defense and Security Committee, and proposes compulsory induction into military service for all Iraqi men between the ages of 18 and 35, with limited exceptions, the panel’s deputy chairman, Sagvan Sindi, has explained.
The draft proposes a different length of service depending on academic level. Iraqis with a high school degree would serve 18 months while university graduates would serve only nine months. A Ph.D. would not have to serve more than three months.
The endorsement, as reported by the Iraqi Kurdish news agency Rudaw, has the approval of Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamed al Halbusi and a certain sector of MPs who see the restoration of military service as a possible boost to the country’s deteriorating economy because of the amount of business that would depend on this structure and the budget it would receive in itself.
«The budget allocated to the military service can be used to develop infrastructure and build new roads, invest in the development of weaponry, training and the level of competence of the Iraqi soldier,» according to comments by researcher Lina Musawi picked up by the agency.
