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French Spin on Fallujah Terrorists
The insurgents who have been resisting a weeklong onslaught by the US war machine in this Sunni bastion are for the most part young, deeply religious, proud of their tribal heritage and highly suspicious of foreigners. "We are above all free men," said one of them who would not give his name. "We accept only Godâs authority," another said.Donât believe it. They hardly kept RPGs in their back yards during the Saddam dictatorship. They are being supplied from Arab Islamofascists. I have to add: the attribution to Baathist-Fedayen, is equally false. This is jihad, folks; al-Qaeda at the neighborhood level. Fallujahâs residents are known to be stronged-willed and united by deep tribal ties. Even ex-dictator Saddam Hussein had trouble controling the Dulaimi tribe in Al-Anbar Province around Fallujah. After he ordered the 1995 execution of Mohammed Mazloum Dulaimi, a local man and an air force officer, the areaâs people revolted, burning a police station and other government buildings. To put down the rebellion, Saddam chose subtlety over force, according to an older rebel, who said Saddam deployed soldiers from the same Dulaimi tribe as the officer, and the rebels agreed to lay down their arms and turned them over to their cousins... Relative freedom of the press, has permitted a year of Salafi indoctrination. Forget the "tribal" angle. In the showdown with US Marines, many residents have joined the guerrillas. Most of the insurgents are aged between 18 and 35 and some sport beards and salt-and-pepper mustaches. They wear civilian clothes, carry Kalashnikov assault rifles, anti-tank rockets and even Russian-made Strela ground-to-air missiles. "We are defending our district, our city. Everybody is mobilized. No able-bodied man can refuse to take up arms," said an elderly man. "I am defending my city. I am from the Golan district and I have had no news from my family for a week. We are in the hands of God," said a resident in his 40s. The guerrillas have asked families to leave town because of the fierce fighting. "Who would have imagined that a small city like ours could resist the mightiest power on earth," a local fighter stated proudly. Fred: Baath-redux or al-Qaeda-lite?
Posted by: Man Bites Dog 2004-04-13 |
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