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Umm... all it shows is that there are still a lot of bad guys who crave power and care nothing for the good of the Iraqi people, and are willing to exploit a religion in order to perpetuate violence, murder and oppression.
Fanning the flames of resistance
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - With US forces storming into western districts of Fallujah early on Monday, seizing the main city hospital and securing two key bridges over the Euphrates River, the first stage of the long-expected assault on the insurgent stronghold appears to be under way.
This follows the interim Iraqi government's declaration on Sunday of a state of emergency for 60 days throughout the country, except for Kurdish-run areas of the north.
These developments are expected to precipitate a new phase in the resistance that, Asia Times Online contacts say, is being coordinated from Samarra, the Sunni stronghold north of Baghdad where at least 33 people were killed and 48 wounded, including a local police chief, in four car-bomb attacks and clashes on Saturday.
The sources say the Iraqi resistance, comprising nationalist Iraqi tribes, religious groups, former Ba'ath Party and Iraqi Republican Guard members, as well as foreign fighters, is being coordinated by Saddam Hussein's former No 2, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who has played an important role in cementing a unified strategy among the different anti-US groups in the country.
Izzat has used his influence as the only devout Muslim in the former Ba'athist regime and encouraged different Islamic groups from the north to the south to make contact with local Ba'ath councils and units of Iraqi forces.
Foreign infiltration into the country is also continuing across largely unguarded borders, notably from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Jordan and Kuwait. "There is news that the majority of the civilian population of Fallujah has been forced to leave. This obviously affects Iraq's neighbors," commented a leading Pakistani strategic expert, retired Major-General Ghulam Umar.
Although the troubles in Iraq have only drawn a cautious official response from Muslim countries, including the Arab League asking the US not to invade Fallujah, a far deeper impact has been made on Muslim masses across the globe, where increasingly they are becoming motivated to take up arms in support of the Iraqi resistance. The Koran through its teachings supports Muslims helping people in a state of siege or intense oppression, regardless of religion.
Asia Times Online has learned from sources in Saudi Arabia that as many as 10,000 Saudi youths might be in or going to Iraq. And with the strong presence of organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in such countries as Syria and Jordan, it can be safely estimated that jihadis from these countries are also flooding into Iraq, or are preparing to do so.
At the same time, the US has consistently reaffirmed its determination to flush out the resistance once and for all, making intensified clashes inevitable, including possibly across Iraq's borders. The hardline US approach has served to bring the many Arab tribes in Iraq together. Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar, who is himself a tribal chief from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, is a fierce critic of the Fallujah operation.
The US operation on Fallujah includes Battalion 36, an elite fighting force of Kurds and the Badr Brigade (former exiled Shi'ite group in Iran) , as well as combatants from Iraqi exile groups trained by the US Central Intelligence Agency in Hungary before the war. They are considered "alien", and their participation beside US forces will not only provoke local tribal sentiment, but also have an impact on countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria, and attract support for the resistance, though from the grassroots level.
Saudi support
According to Saudi Arabia-based Arab News, 21 prominent Saudi religious scholars have signed an open statement to the Iraqi people legitimizing their resistance and forbidding any cooperation or dealings with the occupying US forces.
The scholars stressed the importance of a unified Iraq, asking Iraqis to forsake personal, regional or tribal interests to ensure that justice is served among all. They also told the Iraqi people that they should understand the reality they were living in because "any vision that goes beyond seeing things in their true perspective with all its details will end in failure".
Signatories to the statement included Sheikh Safar al-Hawali - who has been a mediator between terrorists and the Saudi government in the past year - Sheikh Salman al-Awdah, Sheikh Nasir al-Omar, Sheikh Hatim al-Ouni, Sheikh Awad al-Qarni and Sheikh Saud al-Finaisan.
Though Arab News gave the statement prominence, its senior editor, Siraj Wahab, said its authenticity had yet to be conclusively confirmed as it was only posted on an Islamic website.
Significantly, scholars such as Salman and al-Hawali were once supporters of Osama bin Laden, but after September 11, 2001, they denounced al-Qaeda and restored ties with Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler. The statement therefore sheds some light on the undercurrents in Saudi society, where large segments support the Iraqi resistance movement.
A similar statement in favor of the Iraqi resistance was in the offing in Pakistan, but the Pakistani intelligence community intervened and prevented it from being released for fear of widespread anti-US demonstrations. At the same time, a countrywide demonstration program planned by the banned Hizbut Tehrir was crushed through mass arrests.
Asia Times
This article does two things. First off, It blows the cover off the Zarqawi myth that the right-wing press has perpetuated and I have repeaditly denounced, and it supports my theory that the battle of Fallujah is having a radicalizing effect on more moderate Arabs in countries boardering Iraq, and this war of ours is well on its way to becoming a regional war.
Next stop. World War 3.
Umm... all it shows is that there are still a lot of bad guys who crave power and care nothing for the good of the Iraqi people, and are willing to exploit a religion in order to perpetuate violence, murder and oppression.
There is little doubt that Dan supports the agenda of terrorists over that of his country(although I am still not convinced he is a citizen of the U.S.)
I am not convinced Dan believes anything he posts. I think he is an attention , and he does it to rile up the natives. It's good for the forum though, stimulates discussion. So carry on danny!
Dan, in order for it to be a world war, the world would have to be involved. As you and your democrat cronies are so astute in pointing out, the coalition of the willing is largely made up of American troops with help from the British. There will be no "world war" so please get off of that soundbyte. The flocking of all the radicals to Iraq will only help the American cause as they can all be eliminated in one fell swoop. But let the propagana war continue....onward and upward Danny!
We have Mullahs in Saudi Arabia decreeing Fatuwas that oblige young Saudi's to go fight the American occupiers in Iraq. We have the Pakistan president using the ISI to suppress news of the war in Pakistan for fear that it could spark a civil war there. We have the Iranians, Syrians, and Egyptians joining together for the first time ever. Yeah, keep telling your self that this will soon be over. God knows that denial runs deep in the Republican party.Dan, in order for it to be a world war, the world would have to be involved. As you and your democrat cronies are so astute in pointing out, the coalition of the willing is largely made up of American troops with help from the British. There will be no "world war" so please get off of that soundbyte. The flocking of all the radicals to Iraq will only help the American cause as they can all be eliminated in one fell swoop. But let the propagana war continue....onward and upward Danny!
the sooner there is peace, the sooner we are gone. you say occupy. we say liberate. obviously we have strategic interests in iraq. obviously, we have business interests in iraq. but our interests will be served via a democracy, with free people....that can actually benefit from their countries own resources instead of the sunni living high off the hog, while the others suffer.to go fight the American occupiers in Iraq.---
then they die together. Again, anyone joining the "resistance" (say it with a French accent Dan, it will make you feel better) deserves what they get. They are fighting against a Free Iraq.We have the Iranians, Syrians, and Egyptians joining together for the first time ever-
seriously Dan, I know you don't beleive all this drivel you post.....but you are one entertaining mofo, i'll give you that much....
Okay, only two things need to be made clear in this thread...
1) We're ing kicking ass in Fallujah, Ramadi, and the rest of the Sunni Triangle; and,
2) Harvard Intelligencia have finally acknowledged the true cause of terrorism. (Here's a hint: President Bush is right and Nbadanallah is wrong.)
Kettle? This is Pot. You're black.God knows that denial runs deep in the Republican party.
Fallujah then..
and now...
great links yoni. thanks.
Dan...it is you who is "fanning the flames of resistance" . Cease and desist!
The problem with that painting is that it is the US and allies that are giving their own blood to stop the slaughter of children and the murder of innocents.
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