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| Iraq-Jordan |
| A Conversation With a Member of the Iraqi Resistance |
| 2004-05-01 |
| From Jihad Unspun, an article written by Dahr Jamail, "a correspondent for The NewStandard. He is an Alaskan devoted to covering the untold stories from occupied Iraq." .... Tonight Iâm speaking with a 26 year-old member of the growing resistance who used to work as a portrait photographer and maintained his trade even whilst in the Iraqi Army, when he was a guard at the presidential palace. Yet he was against Saddam Hussein and rejoiced when the U.S. military managed to topple his brutal regime. In fact, he says he didnât even fight in the resistance against the U.S. during the invasion. But he grew weary of watching his fellow countrymen humiliated, mistreated and killed by the aggression of his occupiers, and like so many others he took up arms to fight against them. He says, âWe were under great stress during the time of Saddam. He put me in prison. We were never loyal to Saddam, but now he is representative of us because he is a native of Iraq, he is Muslim, and he is Iraqi.â He says he is a member of a group of 20 who carry out attacks. His group has a ânarrowâ relationship with other groups in the resistance. He says, âWe meet on the day we have a job, then after we complete the job, we donât know each other until it is time for another job.â He says his last job was yesterday. He says his group has carried out 250 attacks and he, personally, has participated in 70 of them. How does he know when it is time to meet with his group? He says, âWhen a house or city is attacked by the Americans, we meet and decide what job to do.â His group uses Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGâs), Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDâs), grenades and Kalashnikovs. âWe have so many arms,â he says gruffly, âAll that we need to do our jobs.â When asked who comprises the resistance, he hold his hands out and says, âSome are Shia, Baâathists, Sufis, tribes, and Arab fighters.â He adds pointedly, âI have been fighting for a year now, and I have not seen one Al-Qaeda fighter, nor have I heard of one fighting in the resistance.â He adds that around half of the Iraqi Police are members of the resistance. He says the resistance is growing--that even just this week five more men have joined his group. He leans forward and says, âAs more Iraqis are provoked, more are joining the resistance. Even children who have had their parents killed by the soldiers are joining.â Of a particular 12 year-old boy, he says, âHe joined because he watched the Americans kill his mother and father. His father was not a fighter, didnât even own a gun. He was looking over a fence and an American sniper shot him. When his mother went to help the father, she too was shot. So he joined us and has killed 22 soldiers. They are now frightened of him, because he carries out attacks on his own.â ..... He tells a story of a Sheikh who was not in the resistance, yet US soldiers invaded the Sheikhâs home and he was beaten and detained in front of his seven daughters. Ahmed says he personally knows 120 people, both men and women, who have been detained. ..... Another story Ahmed tells vehemently is that of when he was detained, along with his sister. While in Abu-Ghraib prison he says he watched his sister raped by soldiers, and after three months she was released, pregnant. âWhy do we not hear about these atrocities in the media? They try to portray us as barbarians when we are defending our homes and our families against U.S. terrorism?â .... He says he does not know how many soldiers he has killed. He says, âSo many. During one attack my group killed 35 soldiers. We hit six Humvees with IEDâs, then RPGâs and grenades, and killed everyone. When we inspected the convoy after we attacked it, nobody was alive, and we took their ammunition.â .... |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #1 From the sound of his name I would think that Mr. Jamail is more Palestinian than Alaskan. For consorting with the enemy, and for sending off one propaganda piece after another, he should be sent out of Iraq. Actually, I would prefer he were shot, but in this day and age of journalist "integrity" I am aware that just wouldn't do. |
| Posted by: Tancred 2004-05-01 8:54:16 PM |