Iran leader sees U.S. 'vulnerable' in Iraq
Ex-president calls America 'wounded monster,' says military defeat would be 'valuable lesson'
Posted: April 12, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON – Providing yet more evidence that Iran is actively supporting the Shiite guerrilla forces battling U.S.-led coalition, former Iranian President Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani said the American military forces are vulnerable, describing them as a "wounded monster," and suggesting defeat would provide a "valuable lesson" for the West.
Rafsanjani, chairman of the powerful Expediency Council in Iran, says America's vulnerability in Iraq makes Iran stronger.
During Friday prayers, broadcast live by Iranian radio, Rafsanjani said deep relations between the people of Iran and the people of Iraq are causing problems for America.
"America had entered the region in order to set up a base right outside our borders, but such a base will no longer materialize," he said. "We have small accounts with the Americans which we must settle one day and bring the issue to a close."
Rafsanjani praised Moqtada Al-Sadr's "heroic" Mahdi militia.
"Contrary to those terrorist groups in Iraq, there are also strong bodies which contribute to the security of that nation," Rafsanjani said. "Among them is the Mahdi Army, comprising many enthusiastic and heroic young people who were unhappy both with Saddam and the Americans, as well as other issues ... ."
Rafsanjani's candid speech confirms earlier reports in WorldNetDaily showing Iran is deeply involved in the Iraqi uprising and has been planning it for more than a year.
On Tuesday, the London Arabic daily Al-Hayat noted in the previous two days there had been "repeated talk in the Governing Council of Iraq about the major Iranian role in the events that took place in the Iraqi Shiite cities," according to the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI.
"The direct Iranian presence in the Shiite areas of Iraq in the political, security, and economic affairs can not be ignored anymore," the paper said.
As WorldNetDaily reported, last April, an Iranian cleric, Kadhem al-Husseini al-Haeri, issued a religious edict distributed to Shiite mullahs in Iraq, calling on them "to seize the first possible opportunity to fill the power vacuum in the administration of Iraqi cities."
The edict, or fatwa, issued April 8, 2003, showed that Shiite clerics in Iraq are receiving significant direction from Iran. The edict said Shiite leaders have to "seize as many positions as possible to impose a fait accompli for any coming government."
Also last April, WorldNetDaily reported Iran had armed and trained some 40,000 Shiite Iraqi fighters – most former prisoners of war captured during the Iran-Iraq war – and sent them to Iraq to foment an Islamic revolution.
Rafsanjani said the Americans cannot bring Iraq under control for several reasons:
They cannot control the borders;
They cannot restore security;
They cannot re-build the country.
In destroying the Baathists, Rafsanajni said, the coalition forces also destroyed "the police, the army, the secret police and anything else that had something to do with security and the ruling system. They sacked them all. I said earlier that administering them was a problem and an obstacle in itself. But was there any other alternative? This is an important issue and proves that the Americans had no plan. The accusation against them that they lacked planning is therefore true."
"After sacking everybody, they were left totally empty-handed. Suddenly there were no police guards in streets, rural areas, along access roads and in border regions," he said, characterizing the American approach to the war as "amateurish." "No police could be found anywhere to control affairs. Well, how is it possible to administer and control the public in a war-stricken country where so many unemployed poor people were trying to resolve their own problems?"
Rafsanjani as much as admitted the Iranian border is being used to support the uprising in Iraq.
Calling the border problems a "catastrophe," he said: "Iraq has too many borders, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. And the opposition (groups) can smuggle in whatever they need or wish to take out through all these borders – unless the neighbouring countries do not want this."
Rafsanjani also paid tribute to the Badr Corps, tens of thousands of Iraqis taken prisoner during the war with Iran who were returned to Iraq as Iranian agents – many of them armed.
"The Badr Corps is a very important group the majority of whom were arrested during the war and were kept in Iran as POWs and then they repented, returned, set up groups and are now back in Iraq," he said. "They have become integrated in society and are carrying out civilian tasks. In any case, the Badr Corps is a very huge force which exists there."
Rafsanjani said the Americans "are now in the region as a very effective target. Of course Iran does not wish to get involved in acts of adventurism. We do not intend to become involved in clashes. We do not intend to interfere. We helped in the case of Afghanistan, we helped in the case of Iraq and we are still helping in security and other issues, but America has become vulnerable."
Rafsanjani also paid tribute to President Bush's political opposition in the upcoming presidential election.
"Some of them explicitly accuse him of treachery," Rafsanjani said. "Some say that he is a war criminal and has to face trial. The presidential candidate from the Green Party says that he must face trial as a war criminal because he dragged America into a war without obtaining permit (of the U.N. Security Council) and inflicted so many losses on the country.
He says that America is incurring heavy costs and is losing its prestige. The biggest criticism they raise against Mr Bush is that he undermined credibility of the international organizations by bypassing them. He failed to obtain endorsement for a job that required international approval."
Rafsanjani added that if the U.S. is defeated in Iraq, the Americans would not soon return to the region.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37983Sources label Hamas a key intefadeh player
By Ravi Nessman
The Associated Press
April 12th, 04
JERUSALEM — The Islamic group Hezbollah has become a key sponsor of Palestinian violence, funding suicide bombings that have killed dozens of Israelis in recent months, Israeli intelligence sources, Palestinian Authority officials and militants said.
The Iranian-backed group, based in Lebanon, earned a foothold in the 3-1/2-year-old Palestinian uprising by giving money to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, ideological allies that also seek the destruction of Israel.
In recent months, it has pulled off something akin to a hostile takeover of cells of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, wrenching them away from Yasser Arafat's secular Fatah movement and turning them into a proxy army.
Al Aqsa members in the West Bank city of Nablus said they speak with Hezbollah handlers by phone almost daily. Israeli security officials said Hezbollah trains some Palestinian militants abroad, instructing them in weapons and bomb-making.
Hezbollah does not seem to be issuing specific instructions about targets or timing. One Al Aqsa member said his Hezbollah contact urges him to carry out attacks whenever the opportunity arises, in "any way possible."
Israeli officials said Hezbollah helps coordinate joint shootings and bombings by the three Palestinian militant groups and has been trying to spur Israel's Arab citizens — who have mostly stayed out of the uprising — to join in.
Hezbollah doesn't elaborate on what support it gives but after the assassination of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin in March, it promised to do whatever possible to help Hamas exact revenge.
A senior Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described Hezbollah's involvement in the Palestinian intefadeh, or uprising, as "immense."
"They are all over the place and they give a lot of money," the official said.
Many Palestinians admire Hezbollah, crediting its 18-year guerrilla war with forcing Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2000. It's a model Palestinian militants would like to emulate.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah, meaning "Party of God," is seen not only as a militant group but as an influential and legitimate political force, with schools, clinics, a TV station and members in Parliament.
Hezbollah launches occasional attacks on Israel over a minor border dispute, but the issue inspires little passion. Its search for new relevance has led it to the Palestinians, said Ibrahim Bayram, an analyst with Lebanon's An-Nahar daily. "Whether here or in Palestine, Hezbollah considers resisting the Israeli occupation to be part of its own struggle," he said.
Supporting Palestinian militants from afar also allows Hezbollah to keep in good standing with its own backers, Iran and Syria, two fervent enemies of Israel, said Shlomo Brom, a former senior officer in Israeli military intelligence.
"This way, they can continue operating against Israel without really paying a price," Brom said.
Money is often funneled to the militants through money-changers, bank transfers and couriers coming in from abroad, Israeli officials said.
A high-level Palestinian security source said the Hezbollah money goes to a few dozen Palestinians involved in planning attacks.
The Shin Bet, Israel's security service, said Hezbollah paid for several fatal attacks, including a double suicide bombing on Jan. 5, 2003, that killed 23 people and an April 24, 2003, bombing at the Kfar Saba train station that killed one.
"We are receiving funding from Hezbollah because we have no other option," said a Nablus Al Aqsa leader who goes by the name Abu Mujahed.
Many Al Aqsa militants are furious with Fatah and feel let down by its leaders. Abu Mujahed called them "a disgrace," adding, "Fatah is not supporting the Al Aqsa Brigades. Without other support, we would not have survived so far."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001901161_hezbollah12.html