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| Iraq |
| Militant turncoat leads Iraqis to al-Qaida chiefs |
| 2010-05-01 |
| Long piece and worth every bit. BAGHDAD -- Leery of using a mobile phone, the militant tasked with directing some of Baghdad's deadliest recent bombings would get his orders from al-Qaida in Iraq's leadership by meeting a go-between near a grocery store named Mr. Milk. So after Iraqi security forces nabbed the militant, Munaf Abdul-Rahim al-Rawi, it was to Mr. Milk's store that he led investigators. That was the first step culminating in what Iraqi and American officials called a devastating blow to the terror group: the killing of al-Qaida in Iraq's secretive two top leaders in a raid last week. In an interview this week with The Associated Press, al-Rawi offered a rare insight into the shadowy terror group that continues to plague Iraq after years of deadly attacks aiming to push the country into civil war. Al-Rawi's arrest itself was something of a coup for Iraqi security forces. Known by his underlings as "the dictator," al-Rawi commanded al-Qaida operations in Baghdad, and an Iraqi security spokesman confirmed that al-Rawi played a role in a number of attacks, including the August 2009 bombings of several government ministries that killed more than 100 people. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 In the 45-minute interview, he shrugged off worries over his fate. "My hope is to enter paradise," al-Rawi said. "One of the investigators said a death sentence is waiting for me. I told him, 'It is normal."' Maybe we're doing something wrong here. Perhaps instead of thinking of it as threatening to kill them, maybe we should think of it as "offering" to martyr them if they turn themselves in along with good info. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called the killings a "potentially devastating blow" to al-Qaida in Iraq. But four days later, officials believe al-Qaida struck back in a series of bombings that killed 72 people in Iraq's bloodiest day of the year so far. What do you mean "but"? It doesn't take anything at all to kill a bunch of innocent people. Al-Rawi warned that after the two leaders' deaths, al-Qaida in Iraq "will implement revenge operations to prove it's still strong." You mean desperate, right? He said he fought against U.S. troops in the brutal April 2004 battle for the western city of Fallujah. So he must have slipped out of there in a burqua. He said the terror group often financed itself by extorting money from Iraqi companies. I hope we are identifying those at risk and staking them out. I'm sure the owner's of these companies aren't happy and wouldn't mind seeing their tormenters suddenly get swept away. Of course, there would have to be protocols put in place to keep these folks safe from vengeful terrorists. Maybe our software could be "programmed with the capability" to identify these businesses so the store owner's wouldn't be so responsible. Al-Rawi said he decided to confess after his arrest because "security forces already know everything about me and my links." He said, "I felt that it is useless to deny or conceal information." Gotta love that fatalistic muslim attitude. We can use this, too. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-05-01 01:05 |