Iraq-Al Qaeda Bombshell: Mag Documents New Links

NewsMax.com ^ | March 17, 2002 | Carl Limbacher

[Carl/NewsMax]

A report set to hit newsstands Monday documenting ties between Iraq's Mukhabarat intelligence service and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist organization is being called "a blockbuster" by former CIA Director James Woolsey.

The New Yorker magazine report details cooperation between al Qaeda agents in Northern Iraq and intelligence operatives working for Saddam Hussein, Woolsey told CNN's "Late Edition," including:

*Details of the ten-year-long working relationship between al Qaeda and Mukhabarat agents in attacks on the Kurdish minority.

*Evidence that the Mukhabarat smuggled weapons into Afghanistan to help al Qaeda forces.

*Accounts of al Qaeda refugees being brought into Iraq.

The New Yorker report also quotes Kurdish sources as saying the CIA had no interest the Mukhabarat-al Qaeda links, prompting this reaction from ex-Director Woolsey:

"The CIA has over recent years not been real enthusiastic about the Iraqi resistance and I think that's a shame. If they got beat on this story by the New Yorker and (its reporter) Jeff Goldberg, three cheers for the fourth estate."

"In think (the New Yorker) piece is a blockbuster," added Woolsey.

[The Great Satan]

Daily Telegraph; 29/07/2001

Iraq builds 'Mother of all Battles' mosque in praise of Saddam

By Philip Smucker in Baghdad

SADDAM HUSSEIN has unveiled the latest weapon in his cynical campaign to use religion to bolster his dictatorship: the Mother of all Battles mosque.

The grandiose project, which shoots up into the sand-blown skies next to a modern motorway 15 miles outside Baghdad, bears the imprimatur of a man keen to preserve his tyrannical legacy in both blood and stone.

The mosque's towering minarets are built to resemble ballistic missiles sitting on launch pads and its 605-page Koran has been written, the Iraqi propaganda machine boasts, with Saddam's own blood. Its name comes from his famous description of the Gulf war.

The Scud-shaped minarets (complete with launch platforms) on the mosque's perimeter are 37metres (120ft) high; there are four more minarets next to the mosque's dome that resemble huge machinegun barrels, each 28 metres (93ft) high. Taken together, the numbers 37-4-28 give the date of birth of the megalomaniacal leader.

Most striking is the dubious and totally unverifiable claim that Saddam donated nearly 50 pints of his own blood for the writing of a Koran. All 605 separate pages of dark red Arabic script, as seen by The Telegraph, have been encased in glass in a rotunda inside the mosque.

Dahar Al-Ani, director of information for the mosque, said: "Over three years, the president gave us a total of 28 litres of his own blood which has been mixed with chemicals to produce this hand-written Koran of 605 pages."

Western diplomats based in Baghdad are unimpressed with the Iraqi leader's religious devotion, dismissing the mosque and its holy book written in blood as a crude publicity stunt. "How can we be sure this is Saddam's blood and not that of some of his victims?" one asked.

The construction of the mosque is the latest phase of the Iraqi government's "Faith Campaign" that opposes religious freedom and has included assassinations of religious leaders.

One diplomat said: "Saddam is just supporting his ideology with religion. He plays the religious card just to stay in power."

After the Gulf war, Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, suppressed a revolt led by the majority Shi-ite groups in the South. Then in 1994, the president, looking to bolster his image as a good Muslim, banned alcohol and encouraged more mosque building.

Large murals and bronze statues of Saddam praying are as common now days across Iraq as pictures of him shooting guns and patting small children on the head. Prisoners in Iraq can reportedly obtain early release by memorising long passages from the Koran.

At the Umm El-Mahare (Mother of all Battles) mosque, there is a massive water and stone relief map of the Arab world. Iraq is represented by a large rock carved with the faces of "martyrs" who gave their lives in the "Mother of all Battles".

Iraqi officials say that the all-Iraqi-built mosque and the holy shrine housing the Koran have been constructed to prove to the world that Iraq can continue to defy American and British efforts to impose their "imperial will" in the Middle East.

The huge dome of the mosque is inscribed in Arabic lettering with the word "La", meaning "No" in Arabic. "This is the biggest 'No' ever given to the Americans," said Mr Al-Ani proudly.

Iraq's long-suffering citizens could draw a different message, however. The reality is that Saddam has again diverted much-needed public money to finance one of his pet projects while his people remain mired in poverty.

In Baghdad, an even larger mosque - the information ministry claims it will be the world's largest when finished - is under construction, while another sprawling presidential palace is almost complete, with four huge busts of Saddam's scowling visage staring out over the city's squalor.

One of the priorities of the Faith Campaign is to fend off unrest in Shi'ite religious centres in the South. In the holy city of Najaf, officials last week adamantly denied fresh claims by Iraqi dissident groups that Saddam's government is responsible for the mysterious death in June of the Ayatollah Hussein Bahrir Al-Aloum.

The sudden death of the ayatollah, who had a history of heart trouble, followed the recent killings of three leading religious figures in the city. Those murders were blamed on Iranian-backed factions.

Supporters of the dead ayatollah, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, claimed that their 75-year-old leader was poisoned because he would not agree to allow the president's men to direct Friday prayer sessions. "Saddam ordered him killed because he would not support the government's Faith Campaign," one man who claimed to be a supporter of armed groups fighting in Iraq, told me.

Heavy machineguns placed in turrets across Najaf, as well as soldiers wearing flak jackets in the brutal 115-degree summer heat bore testimony to the difficulty Saddam still faces in imposing his religious views across Iraq.

[AndrewC]

Saddam hates Muslims,

Hmm... If you say so.

At Prayer

At prayer

Saddam Hussein has taken to praying more in public in recent years to persuade his people that he is a devout Muslim. He has also been on pilgrimage to Mecca.

[Free the USA]

Check the Bump List folders for articles related to and descriptions of the above topic(s) or for other topics of interest.

[ContentiousObjector]

Western diplomats based in Baghdad are unimpressed with the Iraqi leader's religious devotion, dismissing the mosque and its holy book written in blood as a crude publicity stunt.

What is your point?
After all Bill Clinton claimed to be a born again southern baptist

[ContentiousObjector]

And you point is what exactly?

Saddam praying, I can post a picture of bill clinton praying,

Actions speak louder than words, if Saddam is such a good muslim, why does he kill so many of them?

[AndrewC]

why does he kill so many of them

Despots kill people who do not agree with them. Ergo lots of Muslims do not agree with Saddam.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #32

Assad regime killed 20,000 people in the city of Hama to put down fundamentalist uprising. Such behavior did nothing to discourage fundamentalists to enlist Assad's help to operate Hezbollah in S. Lebanon. Every group in Mid-East is a sworn enemy to other groups. They have treachery and double-crossing dating back several generations. And they remember all of them, sort them out and make alliances with their father's sworn enemy or their sworn enemy of the past if it suits their best interest. They are quite casual about these matters. They all unite when they have a real big enemy to contend with, such as U.S. To get a good example of this phenomena, look at Afghan. Every group in N. Alliance was united to fight Talibans. Once Taliban crumbled, fights between old enemies resurfaced. Arab's plan is to defeat U.S. and Israel first. And settle old scores among them, jocking for better positions. Osama Bin Laden emphasized that all Muslims set aside any differences and unite against U.S. (and Israel). He persuaded many to just do that. That includes Saddam. Hezbollah's supply passes through Iraq from Iran. Saddam took in a few hundred Al-Qaeda terrorist for training. I doubt that fundamentalists are conspiring against Saddam now.

[ContentiousObjector]

Especially the Muslim fanatics, who consiter Saddam an infidel

[The Great Satan]

And Osama bin Laden purports to be a pious Islamic fundamentalist, but believes his kids need Western-style education and computers. And the 9-11 hijackers spent their last hours chasing strippers and hookers. And Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the 1993 WTC attack, was a skirt-chasing, nightclubbing party animal. So what's your point? Some of the supporting characters in this drama are genuinely motivated by religion. The most important ones aren't.

[ContentiousObjector]

If there were a shread of evidence implicating Iraq in 9/11 Saddam would be gone already.

Islamic fundementalists are differant, they are not bound by any sort of logic, much like the extreme end of the Republican party, they would rather be idologically pure than relevant, they would never get in bed with Saddam.

Saddam just sent about 40 of these guys to their 72 virgins a few weeks ago,

One of the reasons the Clinton administration was uncomfortable getting to close to the Iraqi opposition, is because they have alot of hardcore islamic fanatics who want to make Iraq into another Afghanistan. A sane Saddam is probably less dangerous than an insane Mulla.

Saddam is a stalinist bastard, and he has to go, but trying to implicate him in terrorism, will only hurt the administrations credibility when the time comes to go after Iraq.

[TigerLikesRooster]

RE #38

Putting Canadian students in the coalition is facetious at best. Perhaps canadian students have overblown ego beyond any reality. However, China may indirectly help fundamentalists just to keep U.S. busy and bloodied. But no open alliance. But Saddam and fundamentalists have much stronger shared interest. U.S. is their sworn enemies for different reasons. They really hate U.S. but neither of them alone is not strong enough to beat U.S. Thus, they need to cooperate. You should differentiate banal whiny hatred of Canada and European intellectuals from religiously motivated fanatic hatred of Arabs. Arabs will kill or die for it. Canadians or Europeans don't

[a_Turk]

Hussein is still a Muslim.

He's a murderer. That makes him an infidel. In order to be a Muslim one must live in keeping with God's commandments. Gassing Kurdish non-combatants is enough reason to declare that he is not in keeping with those..

People ask me with tongue in cheek, why the Koran states that Abraham, Moses, etc. were Muslims, even though they lived so many years before Mohammed. The answer is as I stated already: Keeping with God's commandments makes one a Muslim - automatically.

[Petronski]

Obviously leaked by the administration to help sell the summer offensive against Iraq. Good.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #50

I suppose that you no longer pursue the line "they have no reason to work together". Now you argue that Saddam is better than any opposition leaders in exile because they are fundamentalist fanatics. Not all of them is. That is why they are recruiting former republican guard general of secular background, even though he is classified as a Sunni. It is my view that U.S. keeps this Sunni dominated secular ruling elite with Saddam and his loyalist removed.

So, you do not believe this info in the article. So what information are you going to believe ? You do not believe any previous information about Iraq's involvement, either, I think. Such as terrorist training at Salman Pak. Atta's meeting with Iraqi operatives, to name two.

[Dacus943]

Wind blown fiberglass Buddy... Wind Blown!

[The Great Satan]

If there were a shread of evidence implicating Iraq in 9/11 Saddam would be gone already.

You're forgetting, Saddam has anthrax, and it's here. Through his agent, Mohammed Atta, he told us this already:

What this letter tells the United States, accompanied as it was by a sample of weapons grade, aerosolizable anthrax, is: point the finger at me, and New York City is history. Saddam's question for Bush is, Do you feel lucky, punk? It remains to be seen if Bush is willing to call his bluff.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #52

He is a Muslim in that he went to Mosque quite often in his life and donated some money to Muslim charity. Mafia Don is still a Catholic, too.

[a_Turk]

Mafia Don is still a Catholic, too.

Not in my book. Mafia Don is an infidel. Monkeys can go to church or mosque too.

This undertanding that you describe is a fundamental mistake made by the majority of humans, usually because they are themselves sinners pretending to be believers.

[McGruff]

I want my Bagdad TV!

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #58

Which accounts for about 90% of believers of any religion :).