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| Iraq |
| More on yesterday’s suicide bombing ... |
| 2003-12-15 |
| Senior Iraqi security officials have told Newsday that the suicide bomber who struck the Baghdad Hotel on Oct. 12 spoke a dialect of Arabic different from the Iraqi dialect, the first solid indication that foreign fighters were involved in some of the car bombings here. Moments before detonating his bomb, the driver exchanged a few words with an Iraqi policeman guarding a checkpoint outside the hotel. The policeman, who was injured in the attack, told investigators the man did not speak like an Iraqi and sounded like he was from Saudi Arabia or Yemen. The bombing killed eight people outside the hotel, which housed U.S. intelligence officers and members of the Iraqi Governing Council. Other security officials have told Newsday at least two of the four suicide bombers who struck the Red With a prolonged U.S. occupation, Iraq could become even more of a magnet for Arabs and Muslims who want to fight those they see as infidels occupying a Muslim land. Iraq shares porous borders with Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Jordan. U.S. officials have complained in recent months that fighters have slipped in from Syria, and they have urged Damascus to tighten security along the border. Islamic fighters waged a similar battle against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Tens of thousands of Muslim men volunteered to fight the Soviets, and they were based and trained in neighboring Pakistan. U.S. military officials have singled out a top Hussein deputy, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, as a force behind recent attacks on American troops. But some Iraqi officials say al-Douri has leukemia and is likely expending most of his energies on avoiding capture. Under Hussein, al-Douri served as vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, the second most powerful post in Iraq — at least on paper. Last month, the United States offered a $10-million reward for information leading to al-Douri’s capture or killing. With Hussein’s capture, that makes al-Douri the most wanted man in Iraq. In October, U.S. officials said al-Douri had been involved in recruiting foreign fighters and funding attacks on coalition troops. That assessment is based on accounts from captured members of Ansar al-Islam, an al-Qaida-linked group that has been blamed by U.S. officials for car bombings and other attacks. If al-Douri is connected to Ansar, it would be the most solid indication to date that former regime officials are allied with foreign Islamic fighters who have slipped into Iraq in recent months. My guess is that the boomer was one of Binny’s storm troopers or a fellow traveler thereof, especially if he was a Saudi. The bit about al-Douri hooking up with Ansar al-Isam is mainly a rehash, but the part about him involved on the recruiting and funding aspect of it is certainly interesting, since Ansar HQ (like al-Qaeda HQ) these days seems to be on the Iranian side of the border. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |