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Iraq-Jordan
Hard boyz going to join Zarqawi in Iraq
2004-11-17
The family of Sheikh Omar Jummah had no idea he was in Iraq until a midnight caller told them he had died fighting alongside al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Omar, 35, a Jordanian like Zarqawi, fought for a year with other Islamic militants battling to expel U.S.-led forces from Iraq. But he kept his family in the dark. "He told us he was leaving for Saudi Arabia to take up a teaching job," said his 64-year-old father Youssef Jummah. Jummah recalled that his son was deeply religious and had memorized the Koran by the age of 13. But no one in his family expected that his piety would drive him to militancy.
"No, no! Certainly not! Not our boy!"
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for the beheading of foreign hostages and some of the bloodiest suicide attacks in postwar Iraq. His followers are believed to form a hard core within a wider insurgency by Iraqi nationalists and Sunni Muslim fighters loyal to ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. With their religious fervor and ideological commitment, the U.S. military says Arab volunteers like Omar are behind some of the most audacious and lethal attacks.
"Other than that, he was a good boy..."
Like the other Jordanian militants who kept their "jihad" plans secret, kick-boxing champion Bahaa Yahya, 23, told his family he was going to a tournament in Beirut. When he arrived in Iraq, Yahya phoned his family to disclose where he had hidden a letter to be read after he died. "I am in need of the prayers of my mother and brothers and to tell them the world is fighting our religion," Yahya said in the letter which his family opened after his death in September. He had been fighting U.S. troops in Falluja, Iraq's most rebellious town, from where Zarqawi was thought to have been holed up, directing the insurgency.
Just more cannon fodder expended. Cheap, and easily replaced...
Posted by:Dan Darling

#14  you must be this tall (minimum 3') to go on this ride to martyrdom
Posted by: Frank G   2004-11-17 10:29:06 PM  

#13  Tomorrow our brave Marines in Iraq will be handing out lollipops and ass whoopings, and I've just been informed they're fresh out of lollipops. I think they'll be punchin' a couple tickets to paradise.
Posted by: reality check   2004-11-17 10:11:56 PM  

#12  "It has turned many gentle clerics and young men with strong religious convictions, but who (previously) could not stomach the sight of blood, into eager suicide bombers and executioners,"

Sorry but anyone that gets fired up by seeing innocents heads cut off was sick well before heading to Iraq.
Posted by: BillH   2004-11-17 9:58:46 PM  

#11  I'm so let down by our propoganda effort in this regard. aL jiz and other arab media need to have their mouths washed out with soap.

The question is, would it be worth the effort? Keep in mind, if the Arab media presented propaganda and U.S. officials released facts, who would Abdul-on-the-street more readily believe, the Arab or the infidel?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-11-17 3:33:06 PM  

#10  The interesting subtext of this is astounding. All of these guys were afraid to tell their families where they had gone until it was too late. EIther they were ashamed or knew they might be talked out of it if shown a dose of common sense.

Very cultish.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2004-11-17 3:21:06 PM  

#9  "I just can't wait to get my very own bullet!"

LOL!
Posted by: J   2004-11-17 2:29:33 PM  

#8  "Sheikh Zarqawi is our Imam ..."

...If he can't do it, nobody can...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2004-11-17 1:40:34 PM  

#7  Stickey, stickey FLYPAPER. It really works.
Posted by: Mark Z.   2004-11-17 1:39:26 PM  

#6  Iraq has given Islamic extremists the opportunity to secure a "ticket to heaven" through martyrdom

Step right up! Come to Mosul, or Ramadi. Getcher tickets, we got an inexhaustible supply of 'em.
Posted by: lex   2004-11-17 12:23:37 PM  

#5  How is it that the jihadies are so intent on defending saddams honor? I'm so let down by our propoganda effort in this regard. aL jiz and other arab media need to have their mouths washed out with soap. Shows how childish the arab mind is. That is the easiest mind to propogandise. C'mon CIA, wake up!
Posted by: Lucky   2004-11-17 12:06:29 PM  

#4  ZF,

Sounds oddly reminiscent of the Afghan jihad, where the Afghans complained that the Arabs would show up, make lots of noise, get in the way, but contribute very little to the actual fighting.
Posted by: Dreadnought   2004-11-17 11:15:54 AM  

#3  --"I am determined to punish the tyrants and let them taste what we tasted to stop them from killing our women and children," said Yaseen Rabei, a Muslim militant with ties to Iraqi fighters operating in the western desert near the city of Ramadi.---

How dare the infidels!!!

Only we're allowed to kill our women and children. Except for Arafat.
Posted by: anonymous2u   2004-11-17 10:55:01 AM  

#2  Article: Moderate clerics say Iraq is transforming pious, once non- violent Muslim extremists who shun mainstream Islamic parties seen as tainted by the politics of compromise.

It's amazing how moderate Muslim clerics have no compunction about lying at the drop of a hat. But then again, these are the same guys who praise the 9/11 bombing as America's just desserts, deny that bin Laden did it and claim that Israel carried it out.

Article: For many young Jordanian militants, the dangers of Iraq only strengthen their resolve to go.

Not that many, it seems. Considering that Jordan is right next door, even if 1% of Jordan's 2.8m (majority Palestinian) male population showed up, there would have been 28,000 Jordanian guerrillas in Iraq. But it appears that only a few hundred bothered to make the laughably easy passage. Where are all the angry Jordanian jihadis? Perhaps they love life just as the Marines love sending them to meet Allah?
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2004-11-17 10:41:19 AM  

#1  Moderate clerics say Iraq is transforming pious, once non- violent Muslim extremists who shun mainstream Islamic parties seen as tainted by the politics of compromise. Which is to say, people with rigid minds, who cannot tolerate tolerance, an essential characteristic of democracy. Perhaps it is just better for everyone else if they are killed--or, more properly, culled.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2004-11-17 9:47:25 AM  

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