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| Iraq |
| Excuse of the Day- Iraqi insurgents regrouping, claims Sunni terrorist leader |
| 2007-12-03 |
| Iraq's main Sunni-led resistance groups have scaled back their attacks on US forces in Baghdad and parts of Anbar province in a deliberate strategy aimed at regrouping, retraining, and waiting out George Bush's "surge", a key insurgent leader has told the Guardian. US officials recently reported a 55% drop in attacks across Iraq. One explanation they give is the presence of 30,000 extra US troops deployed this summer. The other is the decision by dozens of Sunni tribal leaders to accept money and weapons from the Americans in return for confronting al-Qaida Muzzy terrorists who murder civilians. They call their movement al-Sahwa (the Awakening). The resistance groups are another factor in the complex equation in Iraq's Sunni areas. "We oppose al-Qaida as well as al-Sahwa," the director of the political department of the 1920 Revolution Brigades told the Guardian in Damascus in a rare interview with a western reporter. He predicted it was unlikely to last for more than a few months. It was a "temporary deal" with the US and would split apart as people realised the Americans' true intentions. Page 2, Goofy continues: Operating in small cells, Sunni resistance groups have been responsible for most of the roadside bomb attacks on US vehicles in western Iraq. While they are starting to unite at the political level, their suspicion of Iraq's Shia militias shows no sign of abating. "We helped [Shia cleric] Moqtada al-Sadr in 2004 when the Americans attacked Najaf, but see no point in dialogue with him now," Omary said. Although Sadr presented himself as a nationalist and was unusual among Shia politicians in calling for an early end to the US occupation, Omary added: "He's still supporting this sectarian government in Baghdad. When his militias attack the United States they do it for their own political reasons and not to liberate Iraq". Sadr's militia, the Jaish al-Mahdi, had killed too many innocent Sunni civilians, he went on. Sadr's supporters often claim he is not in control of most of the militants who have abducted and murdered Sunni civilians in the spate of tit-for-tat sectarian violence provoked by the bombing of the golden-domed shrine in Samarra last year. The shrine is particularly sacred to Shias. "He never says they are not under his control, so we have to assume they are, said Omary. "He should denounce them. Every Sunni family in Baghdad has had someone killed by Jaish al-Mahdi. They have destroyed around 300 mosques in Baghdad. If you want us to negotiate with al-Sadr, you have to ask us to negotiate with al-Qaida. We consider al-Qaida is closer to us than Jaish al-Mahdi." |
| Posted by:Icerigger |
| #2 Regardless of Steele's bona fides or lack thereof, I have no doubt that what he reports is true. If there is one consistent aspect of Islam and, in particular, the current crop of jihadi's, it's an inability to learn from experience. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2007-12-03 14:15 |
| #1 "By Jonathan Steele in Damascus" is all you need to know, folks. Steele is Etonian marxist with a long history of anti-US propaganda and pro-communist sympathies during the Cold War. He's found some clown in Damascus who claims to speak for the Sunni insurgents and takes a line acceptable to the anti-US left. |
| Posted by: Apostate 2007-12-03 10:23 |