Video Chronicles Terror Network in Iraq

AP ^ | 7/5/04 | TAREK EL-TABLAWY

[TexKat]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The camera shows the suicide bomber warmly embracing a group of masked men. There are kisses on the cheek and a shot of him in the cab of a truck — his fingers resting on what appears to be a detonator.

He reads a statement, telling his wife and his companions: "I sacrifice myself for my religion."

Then, as a camera films cars passing quietly across a bridge, an explosion sends up a massive ball of fire.

The scene, purportedly of the suicide bomber's mission, is one of several on a video given to Time magazine correspondent Michael Ware by men reportedly in close contact with the network of Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.

The video chronicles what are supposedly the final days and hours of the militants as they ready themselves for suicide missions. Along with scenes of them praying and relaxing, there are individual shots of the men reciting their wills and explaining why they are carrying out the attacks.

"How can I live peacefully at a time when the holy and sacred places have been violated, and the country is usurped and the infidels are encroaching on our country and humiliating our religion, which is ... our pride," the bomber says, reading a statement as armed, masked men stand behind him at night.

"How can I live, and others live, while our sisters are prisoners of the Americans in Iraq?"

The tape does not say where the bridge attack occurred, but it also appears to show the June 14 attack on General Electric contractors in Baghdad and the May 17 suicide car bombing of a president of the now-defunct Governing Council.

Independent confirmation of the claims was not possible, but Al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group claimed responsibility for both those bombings, as well as the beheading of American businessman Nicholas Berg and South Korean translator Kim Sun-il.

Iraqi and U.S. authorities have repeatedly blamed suicide attacks on foreign terrorists. Some of those speaking on the video appeared to have foreign Arabic accents, but others could have been Iraqis.

In a prelude to the filming of the June 14 attack on the electricity sector contractors, which left 13 dead and 62 injured, the attacker explains that "the doors of hell have been opened to receive the infidels."

In another shot, the car in which the cameraman is reportedly filming the May 17 suicide car bombing of Governing Council head Izzadine Saleem, is so close that the windshield is cracked from the force of the explosion. Saleem and eight others, including the bomber, were killed in the attack outside the Green Zone.

Both videos show routine street scenes interrupted by huge blasts.

The video also shows purported attackers resting and joking in a safe house before carrying out a suicide boat attack in April that targeted offshore oil terminals near the southern city of Basra.

Last month, the U.S. military launched four airstrikes in Fallujah on what it said were safehouses used by al-Zarqawi, killing dozens of people.

[goldstategop]

These terrorists have no clear ideology beyond inflicting maximum chaos and death. In a real sense their nihilism is its own message.

[McGavin999]

So, who took the pictures? Was it someone from Al Jazeera or someone from AP?

[malia]

Makes me wonder where Michael Moore was!

[NavySEAL F-16]

From article:

"Then, as a camera films cars passing quietly across a bridge"

Yea, just happened to be there - LOL.

[KriegerGeist]

So, who took the pictures? Was it someone from Al Jazeera or someone from AP?

From what I saw on the news on ABC (I think) this morning (and now I can't find it anywhere), the jihadists are keeping a video documentary of their actions. The film a suicide bomber reading a goodbye letter to his family, then they show a truck loaded with explosives, then he show how to detonate it...later they film the explosion and describe who and how many they killed. Then, they give copies to the media...I though it was a magazine like Newsweek, not al Jazeera. It was early and I've forgotten now...but, one thing for certain was the amount of foreign fighters from all over more than Iraqis.

One thing is for certain, we are fighting all those "foreign" terrorists over there, which the stupid bain-dead liberals don't understand is better than fighting them here. In my opinion, a suicide bomber in Baghdad is the lesser of two evils, than a suicide bomber in a U.S. mall or sporting event etc....

I hope the wrong people are not put into office that don't understand that...because God help us if they do.

[RaceBannon]

#53 of 73 ^

I know this is an easy question to answer, but why do we see so many pictures of the TERRORISTS holding weapons at the ready, Close up shots, but the shots of our troops are from far away until the area is secure?

Armed militantsTERRORISTS loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr take positions in the streets Friday June 4, 2004 during clashes with U.S. soldiers in the Baghdad, Iraq neighborhood of Sadr City. al-Sadr criticized the new Iraqi government Friday and said he would accept 'nothing less' than an elected leadership, as his militia fighters battled American soldiers. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Smoke billows in the street near the Shiite Muslim dominated district of Sadr City, in Baghdad, Iraq after an attack by unknown gunmenTERRORISTS on a U.S. Army patrol Friday June 4, 2004. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

U.S. Army Humvee vehicles patrol near a Shi'ite Muslim religious billboard in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad's suburb of Al Sadr city June 4, 2004. The United Nations' top human rights official said that U.S.-led occupation forces have mistreated many ordinaryTERRORISTS Iraqis and called for appointment of an international ombudsman to monitor their behavior. Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharand also suggested in a new report that U.S. soldiers accused of gross abuses in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison could be guilty of war crimes.(FOR PUTTING UNDERWEAR OVER THE HEADS OF TERRORISTS INSTEAD OF SLITTING THEIR THROATS LIKE THE MUSLIMS DO) Photo by Ali Jasim/Reuters

U.S. soldiers stand over an unidentified covered body lying on the ground after an attack by unknown gunmenTERRORISTS on a U.S. Army patrol on Palestine street near the Shiite MuslimTERRORISTS dominated district of Sadr City, in Baghdad, Iraq Friday, June 4, 2004. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Armed militantsTERRORISTS loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr take positions in the streets Friday June 4, 2004 during clashes with U.S. soldiers in the Baghdad, Iraq neighborhood of Sadr City. al-Sadr criticized the new Iraqi government Friday and said he would accept 'nothing less' than an elected leadership, as his militia fightersTERRORISTS battled American soldiers. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Armed militantsTERRORISTS loyal to Shiite clericTERRORISTS Muqtada al-Sadr, pictured on placard next to them, take positions on a rooftop of the cleric's offices in the Baghdad, Iraq district of Sadr City Friday June 4, 2004 after clashes with U.S. soldiers. al-Sadr criticized the new Iraqi government Friday and said he would accept 'nothing less' than an elected leadership, as his militia fightersTERRORISTS battled American soldiers. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

A sniper with rebel Shi'ite Muslim clericTERRORISTS Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi armyTERRORISTS watches over the crowd during Friday prayers in a Baghdad suburb, June 4, 2004. Four American troops appeared to have been wounded when a rocket attack destroyed their Humvee vehicle as it drove through eastern Baghdad on Friday, witnesses said. REUTERS/Ali Jasim

U.S. Army troops lie on the ground near a burning Humvee vehicle following an attack in Baghdad June 4, 2004. Four U.S. soldiers were wounded when their vehicle was attacked as it drove through Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said. Photo by Ceerwan Aziz/Reuters

U.S. Army troops pull one of four comrades away from a Humvee vehicle after an attack in Baghdad June 4, 2004. Four American troops appeared to have been wounded when a rocket attack destroyed their Humvee vehicle as it drove through eastern Baghdad on Friday, witnesses said. (Ceerwan Aziz/Reuters)

Iraqi security cordon off an area inside the Imam Ali mosque in the holy city of Najaf. Shiite Muslim Strike>militiaTERRORISTS leader Moqtada Sadr offered mixed signals on whether he would end his two-month revolt as his forcesTERRORISTS battled US troops in the slums of Baghdad but also offered a truce initiative in Najaf.(AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye)

U.S. Army troops check two of four comrades after their Humvee vehicle was attacked in Baghdad, June 4, 2004. Four American troops appeared to have been wounded when a rocket attack destroyed their Humvee vehicle as it drove through eastern Baghdad on Friday, witnesses said. Witnesses said militantsTERRORISTS had fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the vehicle, employing one of the weapons of choice for insurgents fighting U.S. troops in Iraq. REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz

[devolve]

Time magazine is now profiting from terrorist bombers in Iraq by buying info from their "political wing"?

This is not journalism, it is bartering the lives of American and coalition troops and civilian support workers in Iraq for the 30 pieces of silver they profit from selling their magazines in exchange for providing terrorists with publicity and public relations.

Michael Moore hired an Islamic cameraman working with terrorists in Iraq for his Farenheit 9/11 movie footage.

These are not professional journalists or unbiased documentary film makers.

They are enemies of the USA and traitors to their own countries for a big fat bloody paycheck.

Some of these troops coming back are going to get up close and personal with these traitorous war-profiteering scumbags!

We all know what should be done with traitors.

[oolatec]

So why doesn't Michael Ware turn these people in? Oh wait... he isn't worried about the lives of innocent people...

[TexKat]

Makes me wonder where Michael Moore was!

I don't know where Michael Moore was, but we do read that Michael Ware continues to be well informed of what is transpiring with the terrorist groups in Iraq.

[Smartass]

[VOA]

The camera shows the suicide bomber warmly embracing a group of masked men. There are
kisses on the cheek and a shot of him in the cab of a truck...snip... He reads
a statement, telling his wife and his companions: "I sacrifice myself for my religion."

Poor guy blew himself up because he couldn't tell his wife he was sucker
for dark-skinned guys in black...
(end sarcasm)

[Valin]

That was what I was asking myself.