AQ in Iraq, (who'd a thunk it)

Counterterrorism Blog ^ | March 20, 2008 | Evan Kohlmann

[K-oneTexas]

An Iraqi Insurgent Tell-All: Al-Qaida Is To Blame For "Killing Sunnis" And "Demolishing Their Homes, Mosques, and Their Hospitals"

By Evan Kohlmann

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a copy of a recent interview with a senior military commander of the Hamas al-Iraq insurgent group in the restive Diyala province of Iraq. During the interview, the unnamed Hamas commander sharply condemned the "criminal actions launched by the Al-Qaida network targeting innocent civilians and... other jihad movements... The occupying forces were unable to enter many districts and villages of Diyala until Al-Qaida paved the way for them when they began killing the Sunnis and demolishing their homes, mosques, and their hospitals." The Hamas al-Iraq commander also addressed allegations of Iranian logistical support for local Al-Qaida operations, and the relationship between Iraqi Hamas and a variety of other organizations--including the Muslim Brotherhood, the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the Council of Iraqi Ulema, the Iraqi Islamic Party, the Awakening Councils, the 1920 Revolution Brigades, the Iraqi Islamic Resistance Front (JAAMI), the Mujahideen Army, and the Islamic Army of Iraq (IAI).

Among the highlights of the interview:

- "...We apologize for those who have stepped beyond the boundaries of good Muslim behavior… after a series of criminal actions launched by the Al-Qaida network targeting innocent civilians and, separately, other jihad movements. We have sought to find solutions to stop the harm and unify the ranks of the mujahideen—yet, neither our efforts nor those of others have yielded anything but betrayal and a lack of reciprocation by the Al-Qaida network. Ansar al-Islam knows quite well that, from the very beginning, we asked for their commander to be the mediator between us and [Al-Qaida], but they refused to do so.”

- "The occupying forces were unable to enter many districts and villages of Diyala until Al-Qaida paved the way for them when they began killing the Sunnis and demolishing their homes, mosques, and their hospitals. They did what the sectarian militias loyal to Iran could not do, and they finished off the job for them."

- "Anyone who has followed the impact of Al-Qaida in the Diyala province will generally find that wherever they go, they cripple daily life. We can summarize their actions in the Diyala province as follows: demolishing mosques (as what befell the Kanaan Mosque) and interrupting prayers; stealing the salaries of deserving retirees; preventing rations from reaching the people of Diyala for allegedly supporting the Iraqi Ministry of Trade; stealing livestock, especially from the families of martyrs from the mujahideen; killing women and children, and mutilating their bodies, as what befell our brothers from Asaeb al-Iraq al-Jihadiya and some of our mujahideen in Kanaan and Bahraz; shuttering hospitals and stealing many valuable pieces of medical equipment, destroying them or else exporting them to unknown locations."

- "While we were fighting against the American occupiers, the sectarian militias loyal to Iran were our biggest problem, because they know our mujahideen, they know our locations, our whereabouts, and where we live. However, once this problem was solved by the unified efforts of the resistance heroes from all the mujahideen brigades who defeated them, the Al-Qaida network showed up to take over an identical role in creating problems and havoc. This is what has allowed the American enemy to breathe, regain his strength, and to raid the villages and cities of the Diyala province. This Al-Qaida project has helped drain our reserves of fighters and weaponry and has facilitated the work of the occupiers."

[K-oneTexas]

Follow-on - 

 

Counterterrorism Blog

Bin Laden Reiterates Al Qaeda Doctrine Tying Victory in Iraq to Victory Over Israel

By Andrew Cochran

In my opinion, the most important point in the second tape in two days by Osama Bin Laden is his reiteration of long-held Al Qaeda doctrine that victory in Iraq is critical to the long-term success of the jihad throughout the Middle East, ending in victory over and the destruction of the State of Israel. Bin Laden issues a renewed call for jihadists to win in Iraq in order to support the Palestinian cause: "The nearest Jihad (holy war) battlefield to support our people in Palestine is the battlefield of Iraq ... It should be taken care of and supported." This is a quick summary of the doctrine which his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, laid out in his famous letter in July 2005 to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq:

"If our intended goal in this age is the establishment of a caliphate in the manner of the Prophet and if we expect to establish its state predominantly-according to how it appears to us-in the heart of the Islamic world, then your efforts and sacrifices-God permitting-are a large step directly towards that goal.

So we must think for a long time about our next steps and how we want to attain it, and it is my humble opinion that the Jihad in Iraq requires several incremental goals:

The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq.

The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority or amirate, then develop it and support it until it achieves the level of a caliphate- over as much territory as you can to spread its power in Iraq, i.e., in Sunni areas, is in order to fill the void stemming from the departure of the Americans, immediately upon their exit and before unIslamic forces attempt to fill this void, whether those whom the Americans will leave behind them, or those among the un-Islamic forces who will try to jump at taking power.

There is no doubt that this amirate will enter into a fierce struggle with the foreign infidel forces, and those supporting them among the local forces, to put it in a state of constant preoccupation with defending itself, to make it impossible for it to establish a stable state which could proclaim a caliphate, and to keep the Jihadist groups in a constant state of war, until these forces find a chance to annihilate them.

The third stage: Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries neighboring Iraq.

The fourth stage: It may coincide with what came before: the clash with Israel, because Israel was established only to challenge any new Islamic entity.

My raising this idea-I don't claim that it's infallible-is only to stress something extremely important. And it is that the mujahedeen must not have their mission end with the expulsion of the Americans from Iraq, and then lay down their weapons, and silence the fighting zeal. We will return to having the secularists and traitors holding sway over us. Instead, their ongoing mission is to establish an Islamic state, and defend it, and for every generation to hand over the banner to the one after it until the Hour of Resurrection."

Those who favor a quick withdrawal from Iraq should remember that Al Qaeda leadership has said for years that it must win in Iraq in order to eventually destroy Israel.

By Andrew Cochran on March 20, 2008 3:34 PM

 

[buffyt]

Surprise surprise!

NOT!

[Syncro]

"...We apologize for those who have stepped beyond the boundaries of good Muslim behavior… after a series of criminal actions launched by the Al-Qaida network targeting innocent civilians and, separately, other jihad movements.

LOL at Hamas apologizing for other bloodthirsty Islamic Muslim terrorists when they have committed thousands of attacks on innocent people

And up further in the post:

...the unnamed Hamas commander (read: killer of innocents also) sharply condemned the "criminal actions launched by the Al-Qaida network targeting innocent civilians and... other jihad movements...

Nice of him though, he doesn't want Iran to send people to kill Iraqis and Americans, he wants Hamas to do it all.

Selfish terrorist leader.