"Key" Special Groups financier captured south of Baghdad

May 29, 2008 11:12 AM ^ | Bill Roggio

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Coalition Special Operations Forces captured a "key Special Groups financier" with direct links to Iran's Qods Force in the city of Mahmudiyah on May 28. "He is suspected to be the primary financier between Iranian intelligence elements and Special Groups criminals in Mahmudiyah and southern Baghdad and was reportedly distributing funds to weapons smugglers supplying criminals in those areas," Multinational Forces Iraq reported in a press release.

The Special Groups financier has conducted his activities outside Iraq, according to Multinational Forces Iraq. He is "believed to travel to Iran and Syria to procure funds on behalf of Special Groups senior leadership."

Mahmudiyah is about 10 miles south of Baghdad. The city sits on what has been described as a sectarian fault line, where well-defined Sunni and Shia communities abut. Mahmudiyah was the scene of multiple mass-casualty suicide attacks in 2006 and early 2007, as al Qaeda in Iraq and the Mahdi Army battled for control.

Flash Presentation on the Ramazan Corps and the Iranian Ratlines into Iraq. Click the map to view. A Flash Player is required to view, click to download.

Iranian-made weapons flowing from the south into Baghdad would pass through Mahmudiyah. Iran established the Ramazan Corps, which is run by the Qods Force, to direct operations and move weapons, money, and fighters to what it views as critical battlefields in Iraq. Baghdad is considered the center of gravity to influence the outcome in Iraq.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Cut his head off.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Another one down...now to extract some info from him....maybe have him ready if Obama chooses to visit Iraq.,....

[hosepipe]

Troll him behind a boat as sharkbait..

[Red Badger]

We can’t put water in his head, but we can but some lead in it........

[Godzilla]

ping

[Allegra]

I hope we can make him give us detailed source information, so we know just where in Iran to strike.

Maybe we can't do waterboarding and other methods of extracting information, but the Iraqis can.

[WellyP]

First you have to EXTRACT all the information available...then you can rub him down with pig far and then let a dog lick it off!

[Billthedrill]

Oh, these are the guys to get. Not that it's bad to bust a bomb factory or a recruiter, but cut off the finances and the whole thing falls apart. The article didn't say but I'm guessing we also got some hard data such as maybe a laptop or that juicy thumb drive that the late unlamented Mr. Zarqawi donated to the cause.

This guy was no local. If he was significant enough to make field trips to Syria and Iran then he has some very interesting vacation stories to tell.

[Fireone]

How will the Hussein O. campaign make up the lost funds?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

with direct links to Iran's Qods Force

This guy must be high enough level that he would qualify for Waterboarding ... ( by the Iraqi's Of course )...HE HAS GOT TO HAVE A MOTHERLODE of info on the Iranian's involvement....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the LWJ:

Iran's Ramazan Corps and the ratlines into Iraq

*************************EXCERPT**********************

By Bill RoggioDecember 5, 2007 12:26 PM

Flash Presentation on the Ramazan Corps and the Iranian Ratlines into Iraq.

The issue of Iranian complicity in the Iraqi insurgency has been contentious since US and Iraqi forces began heavily targeting the Iranian networks in late 2006. While news reports have touted Iran's role in reducing the violence, US military officers believe Iran still serves as a source of weapons and fighters in Iraq.

The Long War Journal has spoken to several mid-level and senior US military and intelligence officers, all of whom have declined to go on the record due to the sensitive nature of the Iranian issue. Based on these conversations as well as other information, The Long War Journal has learned the nature of the Qods Force operations in Iraq and how they move resources into the country.

Qods Force and the Iraqi insurgency

Iran began to extend its influence in Iraq immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003. Through the Qods Force, Iran's external wing of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran immediately moved money, weapons, and operatives inside Iraq to influence the various fractured Shia political parties and militias.

Iran worked through various militias such as the Mahdi Army, the Badr Corps, the Qazali Network, the Shebaini Network, and a host of other surrogates to attack Coalition forces, Iraqi Security Forces, and rival political leaders. When groups like the Badr Corps and its political backer the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq broke from the Iranian sphere of influence and integrated with the government, the Iranian-backed militias, which have since been designated the Special Groups, began attacking them as well.

To streamline operations in Iraq, the Qods Force established a unified command, called the Ramazan Corps, and split Iraq into three roughly geographical regions.

The Ramazan Corps - Qods Force Iraq Command

The picture of Qods Force's command structure and operations in Iraq became clearer since US forces began heavily targeting the Iranian networks in late December 2006. Several high-level Qods Force officers – including Qais Qazali, Azhar al Dulaimi, Ali Mussa Daqduq, and Mahmud Farhadi – have been captured in Irbil, Baghdad, and several unnamed locations.

During these raids, Coalition forces seized computers and computer drives, documentation, journals, and other evidence that reinforced information obtained through the interrogations of the Qods Force officers. While military and intelligence sources would not discuss other methods, communications intercepts and satellite imagery are also likely to play a key role in understanding the Qods Force's activities in Iraq.

Critical information about the structure of the Ramazan Corps comes from the Iranian operatives captured in Iraq. Qais Qazali was the leader of the Qazali Network, which was responsible for several high-profile attacks on US and Iraqi forces. Qais, along with his brother Laith Qazali, and several other members of the Qazali Network were captured in early 2007. Azhar al Dulaimi, also a member of the Qazali network, was the tactical commander behind the attack on the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center, which resulted in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of five US soldiers. Ali Mussa Daqduq, who served as the chief of guard to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and was the commander of Hezbollah's special forces, was tasked by Iran to organize the Special Groups and "rogue" Mahdi Army cells along the lines of Lebanese Hezbollah. Mahmud Farhadi was the Qods Force officer in charge of the Zafr Command, one of the three units subordinate to the Ramazan Corps.

Multinational Forces Iraq learned that Iran set up the Ramazan Corps as a sophisticated command structure to coordinate military, intelligence, terrorist, diplomatic, religious, ideological, propaganda, and economic operations. "This Corps is responsible for most of the Qods Force operations in Iraq," said Major General Kevin Bergner, the spokesman for Multinational Forces Iraq, during a briefing in Baghdad on October 3.

[Grampa Dave]

One of these days we find out how much money the America Haters like George $oreA$$, the Opecker Thugs Iran/Syria and other misfits have funded the enemies in the WOT.

Hopefully Iraq will be a rich and powerful nation and will arrest these slimeballs like the Nazis were arrested after WWII. Then give these slimeballs some good old fashioned justice like the Nazis got after WII.

[50sDad]

Are we EVER going to do something about this mess? Or does the risk that Iran will turn off the oil mean we are their Beyach forever?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Don't know if you are on the ping list for this excellent article:

Words of War-Victor Davis Hanson tells us what he's learned , what historians will take away

********************Major EXCERPT*********************

Q: You’ve been reading books about the war in Iraq by various participants. They’re all sort of pointing fingers of blame at each other for various reasons. Which book so far do you find to be the most informative and the most credible?

A: I think the most recent that I read, (former undersecretary of defense) Douglas Feith's “War and Decision,” is the most informative.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

You realize the Major violence may be close to the end?

[Allegra]

You realize the Major violence may be close to the end?

I certainly see it that way. Al Qaeda has pretty much been defeated in Iraq and has backed way off.

Sadr's thugs got a butt-kicking over the last six weeks that they won't soon forget and that operation is still ongoing.

The only major problem remaining is the source: Iran. We must strike at them and let them know we mean business when it comes to meddling in Iraq.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ernest_at_the_Beach.

[Melchior]

Our pussy-footing intelligence agencies should do a little recruiting in Turkey.

[taxesareforever]

Cut his head off.

Then empty his pockets.