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| Iraq |
| Mehdi fighters 'trained by Hizbollah in Lebanon' |
| 2007-08-20 |
| Lebanon's Hizbollah has trained Shia fighters from Iraq in advanced guerrilla warfare tactics, according to Mehdi army militants who have been fighting British forces in the south of the country. Members of Muqtada al-Sadr's powerful militia said they had received instruction from fellow Shias from Hizbollah, the movement that fought Israel's vaunted military machine to a bloody standstill in last year's July War. One Iraqi militiaman, who asked to be named only as Abu Muhannad, said he had spent a month in Southern Lebanon, Hizbollah's stronghold. "I was one of the experienced fighters from the Mehdi army to go for training there," he said. "We learned how to take advantage of an armoured vehicle's weakness, and how to wait and kill the soldiers who try to escape." The 39-year-old from Suwayrah, a city 40 km south of Baghdad was one of several fighters to confirm the links between the two groups. The US has long claimed that Hizbollah, Iraq's Shias and Iran have formed a broad alliance opposed to Israel, the US and its Middle Eastern allies. Earlier this year, the US military said it had captured a Hizbollah fighter in southern Iraq who had been involved in the abduction and murder of American soldiers. Hizbollah has a reputation of being able to carry out such complex operations, in contrast to the more amateurish Mehdi Army. During last summer's war, Hizbollah proved itself equal to the American-supplied Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), staging well-organised, textbook ambushes on tanks belonging to the IDF. Israel invaded Lebanon expecting to crush Hizbollah, but the war ended in stalemate, surprising military observers and allowing the guerrillas to claim a victory. Another Mehdi Army fighter, a 26-year-old who asked to be identified as Abu Nasser, said he and 100 other group members travelled to Lebanon in December 2005. "They didn't teach us anything about suicide bombings, they showed us real tactics and taught our snipers," he said. Speaking in Tufa in Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, the head of the Mehdi Army, admitted to "formal links" with Hizbollah. "We have formal links with Hizbollah, we do exchange ideas and discuss the situation facing Shiites in both countries," he said. "It is natural that we would want to improve ourselves by learning from each other. We copy Hizbollah in the way they fight and their tactics, we teach each other and we are getting better through this." Mr Sadr said members of the Mehdi Army had travelled to Lebanon, and would continue to do so. "We go and discuss what Israel's future plans are in the Middle East because we are part of whatever will happen," he said |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #2 Lot of bull in this article. I wonder how much of this the Independent itself really believes (probably most of it). Hezbollah "won" a phyrric victory because Israel's military and civilian leadership weren't up to actually FIGHTING a war at that time. I believe if Netanyahu is elected to replace Olmert, Hezbollah won't be able to do even a tenth as well. The real problem is Iran, which is funding and supporting Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria, the Mahdi Army, and whoever else they can employ to fight a proxy war against the United States. The sooner we retaliate with overwhelming force, the sooner this nonsense will end. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-08-20 15:14 |
| #1 Fred, give us a warning or something (graphic) before you publish this stuff. My surprise meter pegged out and I spilled coffee all over my lap. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-08-20 12:02 |