Coalition Gains Insight Into Iraq's Foreign Insurgents

Los Angeles Times ^ | Mon, Feb 09, 2004 | By Patrick J. McDonnell

[wolicy_ponk]

QUSAYBAH, Iraq — The young Saudi drifted about the lawless Iraqi-Syrian border in the chaotic aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein, seeking a place where he could channel his urge for holy war. He made it to a training camp in the immense desert of western Iraq, U.S. officials say, before infiltrating the country's Sunni Muslim heartland. He was captured late last year, the sole survivor of a squad of three Arabs from outside Iraq who launched a virtual suicide attack on a U.S. checkpoint east of here.

Military officials say Mohammed Kadir Hussen's odyssey from his hometown, Jidda, to the battlegrounds of Iraq — a journey outlined in a diary seized when he was arrested, a document now known as "the Book" — provides a glimpse into what remains one of the murkiest aspects of the Iraq insurgency: the role of foreign jihadists, or so-called holy warriors of Islam.

"The Book talked about the jihad: how the jihad was going to happen whether Saddam Hussein survived the war or not," said Col. David A. Teeples, commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which occupies a great swath of western Iraq and seized the young Saudi and his unusual travelogue. "People were coming from all over to fight and kill Westerners."

So many foreign fighters are said to have congregated in Qusaybah, a longtime smuggling hub, that the military nicknamed it "the jihad Super Bowl," Teeples said.

The Army says the primary threat in Iraq remains loyalists of the former regime. The foreign contingent may represent no more than 5% to 10% of the overall insurgent force of up to 5,000 people, said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief military spokesman in Baghdad.

But commanders also say the foreign fighters' impact has been significant and has probably yielded the bulk of what has become perhaps the insurgents' most potent weapon — suicide bombers. However, the Army adds that no successful suicide bomber has been positively identified.

Although Hussein's alleged relationship with Al Qaeda was one of the justifications for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, no definitive operational link has yet been demonstrated between the Islamic militants and Hussein's decidedly secular government.

Support Networks

But with borders porous in the wake of the invasion, highly motivated jihadists — eager to confront Americans on Arab soil — have infiltrated the country, U.S. commanders concede. These shadowy forces have largely remained under the radar as the Army concentrates on cells of Hussein loyalists, commanders say.

"Perhaps with all the focus on former regime elements, some kind of screen is now down, and those terrorists who want to fight Americans are coming in," said Lt. Col. Brian Drinkwine of the 82nd Airborne Division, which patrols the Fallouja zone, a hotbed of the insurgency.

There is no way to measure the influx of foreign combatants. They continue to arrive despite operations breaking down what Army officers call "rat lines" of support for jihadists arriving via Syria in the west and Iran in the east. In the last two weeks, the Army says, an Iranian and an Afghan were arrested in Baghdad while trying to put a roadside bomb in place, and a Jordanian with a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher was taken into custody. Several Egyptians and a suspected Yemeni extremist were picked up in Fallouja.

Last month, President Bush himself announced the capture of Hassan Ghul, who U.S. officials say may be the first confirmed Al Qaeda operative arrested in Iraq. Ghul was allegedly a courier for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the reputed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and, like Ghul, a Pakistani.

U.S. commanders say it is extremely difficult to determine if the foreign fighters whom they detain are linked to Al Qaeda or other terror organizations, such as Ansar al Islam, a Kurdish extremist group suspected of having connections to the twin suicide attacks last week at Kurdish political party headquarters in northern Iraq that killed more than 100 people. Some of those captured boast of international terror affiliations; others deny such ties. Proving or disproving it can be almost impossible.

"No one is walking around with an Al Qaeda identity card, as far as I know," said Col. Joe Anderson, who oversaw the occupation of the northern city of Mosul and surrounding areas with the 101st Airborne Division, which is returning home after almost a year in Iraq.

Many fighters captured or killed carry no identification whatsoever, so their origins remain murky. In such cases, officials rely on clues such as foreign currency found in their possession or, in the case of prisoners, their accents. Foreign fighters, frequently embracing martyrdom, are also more likely to fight to the death than other insurgents, commanders say.

Many of the foreign jihadists appear to be disaffected young men harboring an abiding hatred of the West, but having little or no experience in training camps or the battlefield — a common profile among Saudis and others who have gravitated to holy war venues like Afghanistan and Chechnya. This seems to have been the case with Mohammed Kadir Hussen.

"He was a poor Saudi guy without a lot of prospects," said a U.S. military intelligence official familiar with Hussen's travelogue. "He started out wanting to help other Muslims, and it evolved into this jihad."

[FBD]

"He was captured late last year, the sole survivor of a squad of three Arabs from outside Iraq...."

Aww gee, that really brings a tear to my eye.

Why, after reading this, does one get the disturbing impression that the LA Slimes is trying to find a sliver of sympathy for these "disaffected young men"?

[wolicy_ponk]

Kind of like elitist media goons wanting to call a TERRORIST "freedom fighter", huh?
I was hoping someone would notice the obvious stench in this story...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

We are winning!!!!!!

See this:

Operative Sought al-Qaida's Help in Iraq