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All together the system of direct resistance includes some 400.000 people
By: Seele on: 01.08.2007 [17:46 ]
"All together the system of resistance includes some 400.000 people"
Abduljabbar al Kubaysi, influential political leader and secretary-general of the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) elaborates on the new situation evolving in Iraq
In the last period the European media when touching Iraq have been speaking only on a sectarian civil war. What is really happening?
Actually the US occupiers as well as the government imposed by them are pushing for this sectarian civil war. Also the Iranians have interest in this as they are looking for a federation in the South as well. Their attempt is to make the Sunni, the Christians, the Mandeans leave to have a purely Shiite zone. Under the conditions of war this sectarian drive has an immediate effect.
The US uses this as an argument to stay in Iraq as they claim that they would be needed to settle this strife.
There is, however, so much evidence that the intelligence services of the US, of the Iraqi as well as of the Iranian government are the real source of the violence. They plant bombs or pack them into cars which are then being exploded by remote control or by helicopter in both Shiite and Sunni areas deliberately killing civilians not involved in politics. Thus, they try to spark the sectarian conflict.
In the beginning, the media used to check on the site of the blast and often eye witnesses contradicted the official version that a person exploded himself. Now they use to cordon off the area and impede questions to the locals. They want to have the news spread that militants did the massacre while it was governing forces or the US who planted explosive loads. In most of the cases there is no person involved killing himself. In these cases you can be sure that the ruling coalition is involved.
For example, they changed the name of an important road in the Al Adhamiye district in Baghdad from a Sunni religious figure to a Shiite one during the night. It was the Shiite community of al Adhamiye itself to change it back to the original name. Then they came again with their Hummers |
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There are reports of armed clashes between resistance groups and forces related to al Qaeda. What is the relation of the resistance to the Salafi and Takfiri groups?
Let us remember that the West started with insulting the resistance calling it foreigners and followers of the old regime. They wanted to allude that the resistance has no connection to the Iraqi people. Actually the resistance sprang up on a very grass root level to defend its identity against the enormous provocations of US neo-colonialism. They were former soldiers, tribesmen, nationally and religiously inspired people who acted in their immediate environment. It was neither foreigners nor Baathists who were the driving force of the inception although Baathists were participating as well.
The way the US deposed Saddam was perceived as an aggression to all Iraqis including those who opposed him. To be honest eventually Saddam personally played an important role to push his people into resistance. He did not try to save himself by hiding as was being reported. No, he went from city to city, from Tikrit to Samarra, Anbar and also Baghdad. He contacted Sheikhs, officers and so on. He said that they should resist not for him as a president, but for the nation and for Islam. He asked them even to not use any more his picture as a rallying symbol. Only in the following months Baath could reorganise as a party and join as such the resistance. From the point of view of the resistance it was a great luck that they could not arrest him for a long time.
Regarding al Qaeda, in the first two years no such thing existed under this name and even the Americans mainly spoke of foreigners penetrating from outside and especially from Syria. They tried to create a pretext to attack Syria although Damascus did absolutely nothing to help the resistance. On the contrary they did 200% what Washington dictated to them to avert an aggression at least in the first months.
In the first two years they were a very limited force with maybe 1.000 to 1.500 fighters coming from inside and outside. Also the level of military activity was not very high. In a time frame of two years they themselves claim some 800 attacks while the resistance were carrying out 800 attacks by week.
Later they steadily gained ground and they still keep growing. They have a lot of money but they do not spend it on a luxury life, but live a very decent life on minimum needs dedicating everything to the struggle, which shows a very serious and attracting behaviour. They spend the money on the struggle. Most of the youths join them not for their ideology but because they offer a place to resist.
In the East you do not need to write books to convince people. If your personal life style is congruent with your mission you will convince people.
When America started the political process it eventually came to the benefit of al Qaeda. Those joining the political process argued that otherwise the Iranians would take over and in this way they would only co-operate a short period and then could kick the Americans out as well. Of course they failed. Al Qaeda argued in a very principled way that only protracted armed struggle will advance their cause and reality confirmed their way of thinking, their trend.
They offered money also to some resisting tribes with strong Muslim identity which needed these resources for their struggle. Thus they created a coalition of six groups, one al Qaeda and five local groups. That gave them a big push. They were not big forces like the Islamic Army but still with roots in Ramadi, Falluja, Haditha etc. They gave their coalition the name Mujahideen Shura Council. Under this label they continue until now and not as al Qaeda.
They have a lot of resources and a steady supply also from outside while the other groups get nearly nothing from outside. Today maybe we can say that al Qaeda is the first organisation of the resistance. They go separately from the others but nevertheless in each city there is a kind of council to co-ordinate military action, to chalk out a plan of defence.
Islam is a weapon to make the people rise up. The Islamic history, the Islamic figures, the Islamic culture is used to push the people to fight because they consider Islam as their identity. National and religious symbols are being mixed. The Koran says that if Islamic land is attacked by foreigners, armed resistance is obligatory. This is until today out of question in the common sense. Jihad becomes a Muslim duty for the people being occupied by foreign invaders like fasting and praying.
So all the resistance groups whether Islamic or not use this spirit as a tool to mobilise and raise the people. Take for example the statements of the Baath party and of Izzat al Durri personally. Judging by his language you would believe him to be an extreme Islamist. But this does not mean that all of them are really Islamists.
The entire environment is Islamic. By Marxist or nationalist calls you will not attract young people. Where ever young people go you will find Islamic sentiment and spirit dominating. This indirectly favours al Qaeda. People who join them do not feel to do something not normal as the general conditions are Islamic. On the contrary they will believe to only act consistently.
But what about the sectarian attacks? Doesn抰 al Qaeda bear at least partial responsibility for them?
The responsibility lies with the government both with its Shiite and Sunni components, the US, Israel and Iran. Regarding the attacks attributed to al Qaeda by the West, one has to subtract 95%. And for the remaining 5% you hear only a part of the truth. Sometimes al Qaeda retaliates to governmental or militia attacks on Sunni areas by attacking Shiite areas. They want to show the Sunni population that they can defend and convince them to remain. They thus want to foil the plan to drive the Sunnis out of Baghdad which should become part of the Southern Shiite federal entity. This is pursued by the Shiite parties, Iran and in the beginning also by the US.
But this is not a strategy and happened only few times in the last year reacting to big attacks. And for every attack they take the full responsibility. They direct a call to the wise people among the Shiites: stop the crimes which are being committed in your name, otherwise you will have to bear the responsibility as well. We are able to strike back with ten times the force.
I do not want to defend this approach, but we need to restore the facts from the distortions by the West.
There is another striking example. Al Qaeda started in Falluja as the entire resistance started there. While it is a 100% Sunni town right after the beginning of the occupation about 12.000 Shiite families from the South took refuge in Falluja and Ramadi because they were accused of being Baathist. I was not only an eyewitness, but also involved in organising the relief for them. They were helped by the ordinary population because they regarded them as being with the resistance. Until today about 20.000 Shiite refugees remain in Falluja and not a single hostile act on sectarian base could be observed not even by al Qaeda. There certainly are quarrels between the resistance groups over domination, this is normal, but not on the basis of religion.
Two years ago you founded the Patriotic Islamic National Front comprising the Baath Party, the Iraqi Communist Party (Central Command) and the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance. There are several religious figures both Sunni and Shiite who support you, but until now the big military formations of the resistance seem not to be represented by your front. Is the time still not ripe for such a front?
It is an exclusively political front and not a military one. That does not mean that there are no relations but we confine ourselves strictly to the political level. Regarding the Islamic military forces you must understand that they were built as military resistance groups and did not have any political representation. We are not interested to recruit this group or that leader. No, we are in a comprehensive dialogue with all of them with the proposal to form a unified political command of the resistance set against the so-called political process. Maybe it will go the other way round that a co-ordination is formed and we will join them. Our aim is not to show our role, but to create this political unification.
Whenever we seem to be very close to accomplishment, something happens which impedes its advancement. We also know what is behind. It is the influence and the meddling of the adjacent Arab regimes.
Regarding al Qaeda, they always want to remain separated and are not included in this process.
During all these years of the resistance, there has been the problem of the ambiguous behaviour of the movement of Muqtada as Sadr who on the one hand became the main pillar of the government and a driving force of the sectarian killing, but on the other hand speaks against the occupation, against the American imposed federative constitution and even against the sectarian strife. As he leads the most important section of the poor people how do you believe to bring at least sections of his followers to join the resistance?
Contrary to most of our friends, at the beginning I always stressed that his movement is very wide and that many Baathists, Marxists and nationalists went inside to protect themselves against the Iranian militias. Maybe half of his movement comes from other political environments and were not followers of his cleric family. So whatever mistake he would commit I thought we could count on these people to rectify it or retrieve at least some of them. Secondly, most of his followers are very poor but at the same time uneducated. Of cause this is a double-edged sword. Different to the other Shiite parties the social background of his base are not wealthy merchants who might speak one day against the occupation and the next day sign profitable contracts with the US. Their opposition to the occupation is real.
I believe that finally he has been pushed and cheated by his allies in Iran, mainly Ayatollah Kazem Haeri who is the successor of his uncle, and in Lebanon. Hezbollah visited him three times advocating that he should follow the line applied in Lebanon participating in the political process, running for parliament, seizing positions in the state apparatus and especially in the army thus enabling the construction of a strong party. Otherwise al Hakim would take over and dominate by the use of those resources. This is why he ran on the list of his arch enemy al Hakim.
Everybody knows that his father was assassinated on order of Hakim although officially Saddam is being blamed. Muqtada originally also heavily attacked them including Ayatollah al Sistani for co-operating with the US declaring them even unbelievers. This is why they conspired with the proconsul Bremer to kill him. Actually the US really attacked him heavily. Under this pressure he backed down fearing to be extinguished.
It is simply not true that he claims to be against the constitution. He is fully involved in the political process. He has 32 MPs and 6 ministers in the government which is all to the benefit of the occupation.
Then they pushed him to attack the Sunnis in the prospective to create a Shiite Mahdi state. At this point many of his followers left him while other people joined him causing a deep transformation of his movement. By now also the Iranians have been infiltrating the Mahdi army to the point that half of its personnel is composed of members of the Revolutionary Guards.
Up to 2004 Muqtada was on the right side. For example, he came to Falluja. But after the blows he suffered, in 2005 he moved to the other side. Now it is highly improbable that he will rectify his line. Sometimes he makes some words against the sectarian killings admitting however that his people are involved and even dismissed three of his leaders. But they continue. Partially he has even lost control over this militia. If you give weapons and money to very poor and ignorant people, if you make them strong, they often believe to be able to take the reigns in their own hands. They become mafia leaders and work on their own account.
All this was also possible because of the fact that he is young, inexperienced and immature so he can be easily influenced by his advisers, his environment including Iran.
There are more and more reports that Shiite tribes fight against the government forces. Can you explain this phenomenon?
With the occupation the Iranian militia in the South and East went to kill officers of the former Iraqi army accusing all its enemies to be Baathists. So many people were assassinated.
Although they all belong to some tribes they were afraid to defend them. But with the evaporation of the state structures the tribes, are becoming more and more important and powerful. Now they cannot accept any more that their tribesmen are being killed by foreigners whether Iranians or Iraqis not belonging to the tribe. If they come now to arrest or kill somebody the tribes mount growing resistance. There are many examples creating a new environment, a sentiment which is directed against the pro-Iranian militias and governmental forces. Recently there occurred a two day battle near Shuk ash Shuyuk in the south where they tried to capture a former officer. Hundreds took up arms to defend him. He fell but not without changing the climate. He belongs to a very combative tribe known for its bravery. They subsequently formed a kind of mutual assistance pact with other tribes against the pro-Iranian militias including the Mahdi army, the army and police indicating a general tendency which, however, remains local and did not yet reach the general political level.
There is another important cultural factor. The militias brought alien habits which cannot be accepted by the tribes. Under the guise of the Mutha marriage they import prostitution. And they spread the use of hashish.
What about the foreign support to your cause?
We are being used by Arab politicians to reproduce themselves without offering any real support. They speak of the Iraqi resistance and about the American crimes in five star hotels and on the satellite channels. That is all. They could, however, do a lot, for example raise money or take to the streets against their governments in order to close the Iraqi embassies. But they understand that this would mean to pass the red line of supporting terrorism as the US puts it. We know from the past about the importance of material support to the Algerian revolution or to the Palestinian struggle. Huge sums were raised and still the ordinary people are ready to pay. But nobody dares to collect this money for the Iraqi resistance. These leaders are actually cheating their followers as those suggest that they would offer help in secret. But I assure you we do not get any serious help from outside.
Paris, July 2007
Interview conducted by Willi Langthaler
English / Jul 23, 2007
http://www.antiimperialista.org/ ... =5269&Itemid=55 |
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Key figures about the Iraq war
The Associated Press
Key figures about Iraq since the war began in March 2003
CASUALTIES:
-Confirmed U.S. military deaths as of Aug. 1, 2007: 3,647
-Confirmed U.S. military wounded as of August 1, 2007: 27,104
-U.S. military deaths for July 2007: 77
-Deaths of civilian employees of U.S. government contractors as of June 30, 2007: 1,001
-Iraqi civilian deaths: Estimated at more than 66,000, with one controversial study last year contending there were as many as 655,000. According to Associated Press figures, there have been at least 2,024 Iraqi deaths in July 2007.
-Assassinated Iraqi academics: 327.
-Journalists killed on assignment: 112.
COST:
-Stepped-up military operations are costing about $12 billion a month, with Iraq accounting for $10 billion per month, according to U.S. congressional analysis.
-Total cost to the U.S. government so far is more than $447 billion. A January 2007 study by Linda Bilmes of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government put the total projected cost of providing medical care and disability benefits to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan at $350 billion to $700 billion.
OIL PRODUCTION:
-Prewar: 2.58 million barrels per day.
-July 22, 2007: 2.06 million barrels per day.
ELECTRICITY:
-Prewar nationwide: 3,958 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): four to eight.
-June 30, 2007, nationwide: 4,230 megawatts. Hours per day: not available.
-Prewar Baghdad: 2,500 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 16-24.
-June 30, 2007, Baghdad: Megawatts not available. Hours per day: 8.1.
-Note: Current Baghdad megawatt and hours per day figures and current nationwide hours per day figures are no longer reported by the U.S. State Department's Iraq Weekly Status Report.
TELEPHONES:
-Prewar land lines: 833,000.
-March 13, 2007: 1,111,000.
-Prewar cell phones: 80,000.
-March 13, 2007: 8,720,038.
WATER:
-Prewar: 12.9 million people had potable water.
-June 30, 2007: 15.4 million people have potable water.
SEWERAGE:
-Prewar: 6.2 million people served.
-June 30, 2007: 11.5 million people served.
INTERNAL REFUGEES:
-July 19, 2007: Approximately 2 million people. An estimated 750,000 have been internally displaced since the beginning of 2006. Displacement continues at a rate of about 100,000 a month.
EMIGRANTS:
-Prewar: 500,000 Iraqis living abroad.
-July 30, 2007: More than 2 million in neighboring countries.
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Sources: The Associated Press, State Department, Defense Department, Department of Energy, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, The Brookings Institution, Iraq Body Count, The Lancet, Iraqi ministries of health and education, U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, U.N. High Commission for Refugees, Committee to Protect Journalists, Harvard University, Economist Intelligence Unit, National Priorities Project, International Telecommunication Union, The Brussels Tribunal, USAID.
http://www.thestate.com/372/story/134449.html |
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VIDEO: Harvest Of The Iraqi Resistance For July 2007 Part 1
Here is Part One of a brand new release that shows an assortment of operations carried out by various resistance groups In Iraq throughout the month of July. Please be patient as this Windows Media file downloads to your computer.
http://www.jihadunspun.com/inthe ... list=/home.php& |
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US Iraq casualties rise to 57,994
News Type: Event |
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Iraq Moves to Send More Oil to Turkey, Iran
Shahristani Cuts Deals With Neighbors for Refining Iraqi Oil
By BEN LANDO
Basra, IRAQ: Iraqi soldiers take up positions to secure an oil pipeline in Basra, 550kms south of Bagdad, 30 April 2006.
In Tehran, Iranian and Iraqi oil officials signed a deal to send crude to a refinery in Iran, which would send the products back to Iraq.
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index ... _Oil_to_Turkey_Iran |
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Unruly militias in Basra as British recede
By: Adnan Abuzaid, Azzaman
The most powerful authority in Basra is not the British garrison where more than 5,000 British troops have withdrawn behind barbed wire and cement blocks. It is the Iranian consulate where major decisions regarding the city are taken. .....
the Fadhila party which controls the administrations has 15 deputies in the parliament but has refused to disband its militias.
Other groups like the Sadr bloc has 30 deputies and seven ministers in the cabinet but has strongly rejected calls to disarm its powerful military wing, the Mahdi Army.
The other influential group the Supreme Council, a major partner in Maliki抯 coalition government, is reported to have one the most heavily armed militias in the country.
http://iraqsolidaritycampaign.bl ... h-recede-adnan.html |
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Former Sunni fighters risk lives to support U.S. forces
By LAUREN FRAYER
Associated Press
U.S. military interventions since '50s BAGHDAD |
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Post time 2-8-2007 04:46 PM
变色卡
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