A group of Islamists have issued a statement to supposedly rally the Iraqi citizenry against the coalition forces.
Prominent Saudi religious scholars urged Iraqis to support militants waging holy war against the U.S.-led coalition forces as American troops prepared Saturday for a major assault on the insurgent hotbed of Fallujah.
The 26 Saudi scholars and preachers said in an open letter to the Iraqi people that their appeal was prompted by “the extraordinary situation through which the Iraqis are passing which calls for unity and exchange of views.” The letter was posted on the Internet.
“At no time in history has a whole people been violated … by propaganda that’s been proved false,” Sheik Awad al-Qarni, one of the scholars, told Al-Arabiya TV.
“The U.S. forces are still destroying towns on the heads of their people and killing women and children. What’s going on in Iraq is a result of the big crime of America’s occupation of Iraq.”
In their letter, the scholars stressed that armed attacks by militant Iraqi groups on U.S. troops and their allies in Iraq represent “legitimate” resistance.
The scholars were careful to direct their appeal to Iraqis only and stayed away from issuing a general, Muslim-wide call for holy war. They also identified the military as the target, one that is considered legitimate by many Arabs who view U.S. troops and their allies as occupiers.
The independent scholars — some of whom have been criticized in the past for their extremist views — apparently did not want to antagonize the Saudi government, a U.S. ally, or appear to be flouting its efforts to fight terrorism.
Saudi Arabia has sealed off its long border with Iraq and bars people from crossing into that country. Its most senior clerics issued a statement last year saying the call for jihad — or holy war — should only come from the ruler and should not be based on edicts issued by individual clergymen.
This is pure propaganda, and it ain’t aimed at Iraq. The Iraqi nationals on the ground on Iraq know better than the city-destroying and baby-killing crap.
Make no mistake, folks, these “scholars” are not trying to speak to the Iraqi people. No, they realize that they already have any Iraqi national support from the local Baathists and Islamists that they will get, pending disaster. The Saudi Islamist “scholars” are actually trying to stir a further movement into Iraq from Saudis, Syrians, Egyptians, et al. in hopes of strengthening the bastards we’re currently facing.
I take this as an important sign of progress, because it stinks of desperation. The Islamists failed to affect the Afghan elections. They failed to pull off anything substantial enough to have any impact on the American election. Their rallying points in Iraq are fallen or facing increased pressure or impending assault. And now, apparently they need more numbers. This is begging for cannon fodder, bomb-belt carriers and car-bomb drivers. Because they are losing and verging on being impotent to stem the tide.