Posted on 04/01/2003 6:11:17 AM PST by TonyInOhio
CNN TV has reported this morning that Allied forces "may have found chemical weapons at Ansar al Islam camp in Northern Iraq".
The Agonist weblog comments on hearing the same:
Allied forces may have found chemical weapons at a camp of the radical Islamist group, Ansar al Islam, in northern Iraq, reported CNN on April 1.
National Review Online has a similar tease:
ANSLAR AL ISLAM & WMD [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
CNN On Air is reporting suspected chemcial/bioweapon evidence found at the camp seized over the weekend.
And a "Love, Osama" letter in Saddam's pocket to believe Iraqi intelligence links to 9/11!
Yeah, right.
Not really.
You just need to keep your own eyes open for what happens during the next five years or so.
We'll find out about that.
This pessimism is impossible for me to argue against, since it is a mind set and not a issue.
Too bad.
There are soldiers dying over there to protect your right to be whatever it is that you want to be. Just keep that in mind.
Just for the record (and not to protract this debate or anything), I do think about these things. I am every bit as much of a conservative as you are. Maybe more so.
I just don't think this war is a good idea. I am sure we will win, but I think we may well lose in the end. I don't think it was necessary.
I tied some yellow ribbons around the trees in front of my house this evening. A lot of them.
Their significance to me is that I hope our soldiers who are in Iraq will return home safely. That is all.
This is where we differ, and why we should LEARN from history and realize that appeasement and turning the other cheek has always led to disaster.
Saddam has been sticking it to us for 12-13 years. Other administrations used half measures and nothing changed.
911 changed the policy manual forever.
Mr DOWNER —I thank the honourable member for Sturt for his question and appreciate the concern he has about these Islamic terrorist organisations. The member for Sturt has been particularly assiduous in focusing on these sorts of groups. All of us, I think, would express our deep regret at the death of Paul Moran and extend our condolences to his family. I understand from intelligence and other sources that the organisation responsible for the car bombing which killed Paul Moran was Ansar al-Islam, as the honourable member suggests in his question, and that is an extremist Islamic organisation. Importantly, it is allied with and actively supported by al-Qaeda. This group has also had contact with Iraqi intelligence officers in recent times. There is evidence to suggest that Iraqi intelligence services have provided support to Ansar al-Islam to destabilise the Kurdish so-called safe haven which was established after the Gulf War in 1991. There was a report in February of this year that claimed that Iraqi intelligence agents are among Ansar al-Islam's leadership, though we cannot confirm that. There are also reports that Ansar al-Islam has been experimenting with poison gas and toxins and that these may have been provided by the Iraqi regime. Ansar al-Islam is based in the Kurdish part of northern Iraq, which is the region where Mr Moran was killed.
nsar al-Islam shares al-Qaeda's extremist ideology—that is, jihad against the West and the establishment of strict Islamic regimes throughout the region. It runs a terrorist training camp in northern Iraq in conjunction with elements of al-Qaeda, and it stands against the secular and democratic goals of the other group that represents the majority of Kurdish people in northern Iraq. Ansar al-Islam grew out of an organisation called Jund al-Islam, which fought against the Kurds in the safe haven some time ago. Jund al-Islam is accused of mutilating and decapitating Kurdish fighters—clearly crimes against humanity and, importantly, crimes against Islam. The political leader of Ansar al-Islam is Mullah Krekar, who received political refugee status in Norway in 1991. I believe he is currently in detention in Norway due to fears on the part of the Norwegian government that as a political, religious and military leader he could carry out terrorist activities in that country. In July 2001, Krekar described Osama bin Laden as `the crown on the head of the Muslim nation'.
Ansar al-Islam has been listed by the United Nations as a terrorist organisation related to al-Qaeda and is subject to asset freezing and other sanctions in Australia and, of course, elsewhere. This is a highly dangerous organisation with interests in and close proximity to weapons of mass destruction. As events in Iraq develop further, more information about Ansar al-Islam should come to light. It will, I am sure, continue to reveal the links that have already been established between Ansar al-Islam and Iraqi intelligence. source
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Who says Saddam doesn't like or need Ansar al Islam? They are perfect tools to keep Saddam's real enemies (mainstream kurds) at bay.
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