Posted on 11/28/2004 7:52:51 AM PST by miltonim
Before the assault on Fallujah, U.S. officials described the city as a den of foreign terrorists, but its top commanders were an electrician and a mosque preacher - both natives of the community and now on the run from American forces.
Religious fervor and hatred of Americans brought Omar Hadid and Abdullah al-Janabi together in a partnership that played a major role in transforming Fallujah from a sleepy Euphrates River backwater into a potent symbol of Arab nationalism.
Their rise to prominence provides insight into contemporary Iraq, where the U.S. presence sparked a religious backlash that gave radical Muslim leaders major roles in filling the void created by the ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime and its replacement by a weak U.S.-backed government.
After U.S. Marines lifted the siege of Fallujah last April, central government control collapsed. That enabled men like Hadid, an electrician who lived with his mother, and al-Janabi, a local imam and member of an important local clan, to emerge as powerbrokers until the Marines took the city back this month.
Of the two, Hadid, thought to be in his early 30s, appears to have been the more influential, even though al-Janabi, in his 50s, headed the Mujahedeen Shura Council, which set up Islamic courts that meted out Islamic punishments, executed suspected spies and enforced a strict Islamic lifestyle.
Fallujah residents and Iraqis with close family ties to the city said al-Janabi was more a spiritual leader - deeply respected but without the leverage that Hadid enjoyed over the bands of fighters who patrolled the streets, directed traffic, attacked U.S. positions on the city's fringes and fought the Americans in April and again this month. Hadid led one of the bigger and better armed factions in the city, residents say, but they also stress there were other groups of fighters and all largely operated independently of one another.
Some U.S. and Iraqi officials believe Hadid was close to Jordanian terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose al-Qaida-linked movement allegedly used Fallujah as a headquarters. Al-Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for many of the suicide bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages.
But many Fallujans insist al-Zarqawi was never in the city, even though American forces found what they believe was a command and training center for his movement. Residents also insist the number of foreign Arab fighters was small, giving estimates ranging from several dozen to a couple of hundred in a city of nearly 300,000 people.
Given the uncertainty about al-Zarqawi's role, it is difficult to determine his relationship with either Hadid or al-Janabi.
Some Iraqis who knew Hadid said he was too independent-minded to have taken orders from al-Zarqawi or anyone else. "Omar is far too powerful to be anyone's deputy," said a neighbor of Hadid, who spoke on condition his name not be printed for security reasons.
Those who knew him said Hadid came from a lower middle class Fallujah family. Since his father died a few years ago, Hadid had lived with his mother in the family home in the city's al-Moatasim area until the fighting in April. He's married but without children.
About two months ago, one of Hadid's brothers and a nephew were killed by a U.S. airstrike that also injured several other family members, the neighbor said.
People who know Hadid differ over the depth and nature of his religious persuasion. Some said he is a Salafi, a conservative sect whose members try to emulate the appearance and behavior of Islam's 7th century prophet, Muhammad. Others said he is a Wahhabi, the austere and radical brand of Islam.
Al-Janabi, on the other hand, is a Sufi, a mystical version of the faith that seeks closeness to God through the cleansing of one's soul. Sufis abhor violence, but al-Janabi found in Hadid a like-minded partner as Salafis and Wahhabis began to prevail over Sufis in Fallujah.
Al-Janabi even joined Hadid in orchestrating the expulsion of a prominent Sufi cleric and mujahedeen leader, Sheik Dhafer al-Obeidi, from the Shura Council after they became alarmed by his growing popularity, say residents who knew the cleric. Al-Obeidi now lives in hiding abroad.
In 1998, al-Janabi, married with five children, was suspended by Saddam's government from delivering Friday sermons because of his public criticism of government policies. He returned to the pulpit after Saddam's ouster, devoting most of his sermons to calling on Iraqis to join in a holy war against the Americans.
Fearing for his safety, he stopped giving Friday sermons after the April fighting.
Residents said al-Janabi never carried a weapon in public, but was frequently seen during the April fighting talking to front-line mujahedeen, exhorting them to fight on and telling them that those who died fighting Islam's enemies would be rewarded with eternity in paradise.
Well, add two more scumbags to the target list.
maybe we should crush a few dwarves
"Do as I say, or I'll turn off your lights! If that don't work, I'll tell my mommie!"
Ah yes, minimizing the Fallujah victory alert.
All we defeated was a man who lived with his mother...
And 2000 of his bloodthirsty relations.
"Coming mother..."
Well, there goes the "peaceful Sufis" myth.
amazing how well connected to the enemy, the writers for this free newsletter published in a backwater little new england town are!!...
Describing the whole "Fallujah thingee", using the words of Porgy Tirebiter's dad Fred,(Adolph) as he comes running in from outside to have breakfast"
"Defoliating a (Mudlum) victory garden, sure works up an appetite !! "
I swear that it wasn't me... Now hand me the pliers...
"Doesn't Bottles Count?"
"Yeah, but only to ten"
Mudhead to Porgy :
"That Louise Wong's got a balcony you could do Shakespeare from !!"
So what? Quisling was Norwegian.
The joke's on the terrorists. Wait until the electrician sends them their bill!
A Google Search shows that Hamza Hendawi works for AP and has also written for Salon. He seems to specialize in propaganda articles that undermine the war effort.
Here's a list of some of his articles:
http://www.idsnews.com/profile.php?byline=Hamza+Hendawi
It's noticeable that he's big on explosions in Baghdad, soldiers being killed, people being blown up, and the like. He also seems to have taken a lead role in disseminating one of the earliest pieces of liberal propaganda against the war: the Baghdad Museum looting--which turned out to be fabricated. One of these museum looting articles, a flagrant propaganda piece, is found at the link above.
From Hamza's Baghdad Museum looting story:
Looters steal ancient artifacts
Section: Arts
Published: Monday, April 14, 2003
Summary: BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The copper head of an Akkadian king, four millennia old. Gone. Golden bowls and colossal statues. Gone. Ancient manuscripts and bejeweled lyres. All gone.
Good post Cicero.
It is very important to know who these biased authors are.
Noo, Noo, Noo Zarqawi. Just 'lectrian fighting for his home. Death to american imperialism.
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