Regards, Ivan
Posted on 04/05/2003 3:50:59 PM PST by MadIvan
Bribes art last line of defence
MEMBERS of the militia headed by Saddam Hussein’s psychopathic son Uday and assigned to some of the Iraqi forces’ most ruthless operations have been promised a cash bonus equivalent to four months’ wages for each coalition soldier they kill.
The Fedayeen Saddam have been told to expect 250,000 dinars (about £50) for shooting a soldier dead and 500,000 dinars for taking one alive. The men are promised 750,000 dinars for destroying anything from a four-wheel-drive vehicle to a tank, and 1m dinars for bringing down a plane or helicopter.
The figures emerged last week from two fedayeen captured by US Marines in the central Iraqi town of Nasiriya, the scene of some of the most bitter fighting of the war.
One of the captives, a 29- year-old man who was being held in a pit with his hands tied behind his back and a sack over his head, had accepted 1m dinars for his family in return for a pledge to carry out a suicide mission. He had lost his nerve, fled and was caught at a checkpoint.
The other, aged barely 18, was the sole survivor of a group of 15 fedayeen who had set an attempted ambush of the marines. He claimed as he awaited treatment for a shrapnel wound to his thigh that he had been coerced into taking part by threats to his family.
The rewards for successes in battle represent substantial sums to such men, who earn the equivalent of £13 a month as members of the Fedayeen Saddam, despite its special status in the Iraqi armed forces.
Since it was founded in 1994, the 15,000-strong militia, whose name means “Saddam’s martyrs”, has earned a fearsome reputation for crushing internal dissent with acts of exceptional cruelty.
On one occasion four men suspected of disloyalty were paraded in front of a crowd at the militia’s barracks. According to a defector’s account, one was accused of slandering Saddam. His tongue was pulled out with a fork and cut off with a pair of shears. He and his friends were then beheaded with a sword.
During the past two weeks, the fedayeen — often dressed in civilian clothes — have enhanced their notoriety by using women to report on enemy positions and children as human shields.
The man ordered to undertake a suicide mission confessed under interrogation that he had intended to blow up a target south of Baghdad, and had been given drugs to strengthen his resolve. Hidden under his clothes, wrapped in tinfoil, were five sets of small white pills which have now been sent to America for tests.
A marine interrogator said more and more drugs were being found on fedayeen captives prepared to die in their attacks on American forces. “They hide the pills in their clothes; sometimes they sow them into a sleeve or in the back of their jacket.
“These are very strong drugs. They are meant to get the suicide attacker excited shortly before a mission. It gets them psyched up.”
The captive provided the Americans with an unusual insight into what drives the fedayeen. A man from a poor background, with next to no education, he needed little persuasion from recruiters offering money and status. He spoke of Saddam as a “father” and said he had received training in small arms, explosives and urban guerrilla tactics.
“They choose them very carefully,” said a marine officer. “They look for young, impressionable men who have little in their life.
“They look after them, making them feel they owe everything to Saddam and the Fedayeen. It’s not unlike a religious cult. Once they’re in, it’s very difficult to get out.”
Death threats against the fedayeen and their families have also played a part in the decision of many to stay in the cities and fight for Saddam, the officer added.
In Nasiriya, where 16 marines were killed in the first week of the war, US forces have sometimes had to rely on instinct to help them distinguish fedayeen from civilians. The teenage member who was wounded was wearing civilian clothes and had hidden his identification — a piece of cloth printed with his name and unit — in his mouth.
He claimed he had initially been promised money to fight, but had refused. A fedayeen commander had come to his house with threats.
He had been led in an attack on the marines by a colonel who was a senior member of the ruling Ba’ath party. His unit had fired at a helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade but had missed. The fire was returned and his fellow fedayeen were killed.
“Some people fight because they are forced to,” he said. “Others do it because they want to protect their land, their home and family.
“There are many who are prepared to fight till the end. They want to die as martyrs and they will never give up.”
Regards, Ivan
At that point I believe money becomes irrelevant. ;)
Regards, Ivan
Their's or our's?
I guess that if all the "jihadists" want in on this, it beats going looking for them. A good thing we and the Brits are an equal opportunity destroyer of terrorists. Get your ticket for the train to Allah-land while they last.
"Dying ain't much of a living, boy."
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