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Sources 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

IRAQ - WHAT TO DO: DROP THE HAMMER NOW

By RALPH PETERS
The NY Post
April 12, 2004 -- NORTHERN IRAQ

ON Saturday, Iranian agents ambushed an American convoy on the road between Mosul and Akre in Iraq. The attack did not go as planned: Our troops responded sharply, killing two Iranians, wounding a third and capturing two more.

They were carrying their identity documents.

And you haven't heard a word about it. The administration doesn't want to admit how much American blood Teheran has on its hands.

To be absolutely scrupulous, this report comes from a single, if impeccable, regional source. I hope other journalists in Baghdad and Washington will press to verify the incident. The American people have a right to know.

As this column reported last week, the extent of Iranian involvement in the recent revolt goes very deep. The facts that follow have been confirmed by at least two sources exclusive to The Post.

Moqtada al-Sadr is Iran's man in Shi'a Iraq. Several months ago, he slipped across the border to meet with Hezbollah terror chiefs that Teheran had invited from Lebanon. The factions struck a deal to cooperate against the Coalition in Iraq.

Hundreds of Iranian agents and fighters have been confirmed to be in Iran. The actual number is probably in the thousands. They've swelled the ranks of Sadr's "Mahdi Army" and stiffened its backbone.

Nor is Sadr's band of thugs composed entirely of religious radicals, as media reports suggest. The Islamic fanatics are a minority in Sadr's militia.

Sadr began building up his forces immediately after the fall of Baghdad. (If the civilians in the Pentagon didn't have a plan, Sadr did.) The cleric issued a fatwa - which he lacked the authority to do - announcing that looting was acceptable as long as a fifth of the goods or profit was donated to a "religious institution." Guess which one. He enriched his organization and gained recruits from Iraq's underclass and the criminals released en masse by Saddam before he fell.

But those criminals, petty and otherwise, are only the foot-soldiers. As the months went on, Sadr recruited unemployed - and impoverished - Ba'ath Party activists, the old regime's security thugs, survivors of Saddam's Fedayeen and gullible young people (those last being the few who truly believe they're serving a holy cause).

Sadr worked with the Iranians to help them broadly infiltrate the country with Teheran's Revolutionary Guards and intelligence operatives. His Shi'a faction also built bridges to the Sunni insurgents in the cities of central Iraq. Hezbollah took care of the coordination with international terrorists.

The administration knows much - probably all - of this. And more.

When Sadr encouraged his "army" to rise up last week, he thought he was ready. But once again a gangster in search of a throne underestimated G.I. Joe.

Wherever his thugs rose up, our soldiers shut them down. Efficiently, effectively and courageously.

But now, in the face of a Coalition victory, a cancerous danger threatens. President Bush is on the verge of making the same mistake his father made at the end of Desert Storm and that his Pentagon advisers encouraged him to make last year - stopping half-way.

Moqtada Sadr's organization must be destroyed. Sadr must be captured or killed. If he hides in a mosque, go in after him. We're not impressing our enemies with our restraint - they play the religion card as the ace that never fails.

And the parallel operations in the Sunni Triangle must be pursued to the complete subjugation of Fallujah and the defeat of any terrorist who raises a gun.

Our president must make no mistake: Any "settlement," any halt short of the annihilation of the killers who want to destroy the future of Iraq, will be read throughout that troubled country and the greater Islamic world as a resounding victory for the terrorists. They'll be viewed as having defeated the U.S. military, stopping it in its tracks.

Reality is immaterial. In the Middle East, perception trumps facts. Only uncompromising strength impresses our enemies. The president can't afford to listen to the counsels of caution.

Nor can we afford to listen to Arab opinion, as we did in 1991 with disastrous results. Doubtless, Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's "president," will tell Bush to stop the operation in Fallujah during his visit this week.

The apologists for terror are piling on, from the hateful rhetoric of al-Jazeera, which encouraged attacks on Americans all week, to the corrupt sheiks of the Persian Gulf who are responsible for so much of the decline of the Arab soul.

If we do not pursue our enemies unto their deaths while we have the chance, Fallujah will prove to be Bush's Mogadishu. And the forces of global terror will have won again.

Ralph Peters is the author of "Beyond Baghdad: Postmodern War and Peace."

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/22552.htm