Category: Middle East

It looks like Osama bin Laden’s personal version of Mein Kampf is going to be made available to the U.S.

The original thoughts of Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders will be made available in English next year in a book, “The Al Qaeda Reader,” whose publisher says is intended to educate the American people.

The book, which has been criticized by some who suffered in al Qaeda attacks, offers a history of the radical Muslim group, with interviews with bin Laden and his associates and a tract on Islamic struggle by his right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahri.

A spokeswoman for publisher Doubleday said it was important for Americans to understand the mind of their enemy.

“This gives a direct perspective on their philosophy,” Suzanne Herz said on Thursday.

But some who lost loved ones in the September 11 hijacked plane attacks objected.

“I do not want to give the terrorists any platform to forward their agenda,” said Jack Lynch, whose firefighter son Michael was killed at New York’s World Trade Center.

“I fear this book could ignite the lunatic fringe in this country who are sympathetic to al Qaeda,” he said.

[…]

The book draws on two texts published in the Middle East in the 1990s — one from International Jihad Press, which has no known address, the other printed by a small imprint in Jordan.

The first text is “The Battles of the Lion’s Den of the Arab Partisans in Afghanistan” — a compilation of interviews with bin Laden and his associates giving an oral history of al Qaeda.

The second source is “Bitter Harvest,” a treatise on jihad penned by al-Zawahri.

The publisher stresses that all profits will go to charity. I see the concerns about the possible arousing of sympathizers legitimate; however, I would have to think that the lunatic fringe is already in the terrorists’ camp as much as they can be.

Besides, there is value in knowing one’s enemy.

This is an encouraging look at how personal technology is playing an increasing role, as Iraqis are using cell phones to help in the fight against the terrorists.

The tip came in fast, telegraph-terse, and discreet. Maj. Mohammed Salman Abass Ali al-Zobaidi of the Iraqi National Guard scrolled down to read it: “Black four-door Excalibur. Behind cinema.”

From cell phone screen to local authorities: Acting on the recent text message tip to the Iraqi National Guard commander, police in a nearby town tracked down a black car behind the theater, and arrested the driver for suspected links to insurgent attacks.

In the volatile Shiite-Sunni towns south of Baghdad known as the “triangle of death,” Iraqi civilians increasingly are letting their thumbs do the talking, via Arabic text messages sent from the safety of their homes, Iraqi security forces and U.S. Marines say.

At a time when U.S. and Iraqi security forces are desperate for information on attacks – preferably in advance – mobile phone text messages allow civilians to pass on information from a discreet distance, their identities shielded from security forces and their neighbors.

Although a cell phone displays the caller’s number, phone records are so chaotic in Iraq that chances are slim anyone could track down a tipster. And text messages can be sent to the most trusted officer, a far safer avenue than calling a police station that might be riddled with informants.

“Many, many people tell us about the terrorists with this,” al-Zobaidi said, tapping his black cell phone and thumbing down to show more messages.

“All the time, I hear his phone – beep beep beep beep, beep beep beep beep,” said Sgt. Eddie Risner of Ocala, Fla., part of a Marine contingent working with guardsmen to try to block attacks and put a credible Iraqi security force on the street.

[…]

In Iskandariyah, Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit say they’ve halved the daily attack rate – in large part through constant patrols devoted to hunts for bombs, weapons caches and possible insurgents.

On this day, Marines found three bombs the hard way – by running across them on patrols, and by having at least one blow up as they drove by. There were no injuries.

The fourth bomb of the day was the biggest: a vehicle packed with 10 to 15 100mm mortar rounds.

Marines found that the easy way – a teenager tipped off Iraqi police, who called the Marines. The Americans blew up the bomb remotely, creating a blast that stopped pedestrians and sent flocks of startled birds into the air.

Marines befriended the teenager later at a police station. It’s the tips and the cooperation with local security forces that Marines want to encourage, they said.

But few Iraqi civilians want to risk being seen as informants.

That’s where text messaging comes in.

“That way, they’re not seen leaving their homes,” said Marine Sgt. Justin Walsh, of Cleveland.

Al-Zobaidi, the Iraqi National Guard local commander, put up fliers when he took the position, succeeding a brother who had been assassinated in the same post.

The fliers had al-Zobaidi’s cell number, and encouraged residents to get in touch if they knew of impending attacks.

The message is still getting out. In Iskandariyah on Friday, Marines urged a group of men on a street corner to come forward with information. One looked reluctant, and drew his hand across his throat to show why he wouldn’t be providing his name.

“Do you have the chief of police’s cell number?” he asked.

A tape, a terrorist pep-rally speech supposedly by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has shown that one of the top bad guys is now taking that long dirt nap, Fallujah-style.

A speaker believed to be al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq said in an audiotape found on the Internet Thursday that one of his top lieutenants was killed in last year’s U.S.-led assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

The speaker, claiming to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said top aide Omar Hadid was killed during fighting in November when U.S. and Iraqi forces recaptured the city.

It was the first public report by the insurgents that Hadid, a leading guerrilla commander in the city, was dead. It was widely believed that Hadid, who was in his 30s, fled the city as it was being attacked.

“Days after the battle began, one of the commanders suggested to brother Omar Hadid and brother Abu Harith Mohammed Jasem al-Issawi to shave their beards and leave Fallujah through a safe exit so that they can start working from outside,” the speaker said.

“The two heroes refused, saying: ‘By God we will not leave as long as there is one immigrant fighting in the city.’ They were martyred. May God’s mercy be upon them.”

The authenticity of the tape could not immediately be verified.

Al-Zarqawi hinted that the battle of Fallujah was the beginning of a long war.

“Ferocious wars are not determined by the outcome of days or weeks,” the speaker on the tape said. “They take their time until it’s time to announce the victory of one of the parties.”

Target Centermass translation: “Sure, we got our asses handed to us in our very own base. Sure, the Americans aren’t cutting and running like in Beirut and Mogadishu. Sure, I bailed out before anything even went down but c’mon, guys, you can still rise up and get out there and die. I’ll hopefully still be back here to behead any unarmed, bound folks you can bring me.”

So long, Omar Hadid, we hardly knew ya.

Back in October, I asked the following question:

In a somewhat unrelated aside, how long into the resurrection of the Iraqi government and military expertise do we begin working on the martial aspect needed for eventual success, aviation and air power abilities?

Well, in a very limited sense, the answer is now.

A defunct squadron of the Iraqi air force was reactivated Sunday and received a delivery of three C-130E Hercules cargo planes from the United States, the U.S. military said.

Iraqi airmen celebrated the arrival of the planes by slaughtering five sheep in a ceremony at an airfield and marking the planes with blood.

The 23rd Iraqi air force squadron, first created in 1965, is responsible for airlifting military personnel and equipment. Before accepting the new planes, flight crews and mechanics completed four months of training in neighboring Jordan.

They will receive additional instruction in flying and maintaining the aircraft from U.S. Air Force commanders in Iraq and on flight simulators in the United States.

Saddam Hussein’s air force all but disappeared during the 1991 Gulf War and efforts have only recently begun to rebuild the fleet. In November, the United Arab Emirates delivered four six-seater Com Air 7SL aircraft, four Bell Jet Ranger Helicopters and several other planes.

I do wonder about the current status of the more lethal aircraft of Saddam’s era. What became of the fighters that were flown to Iran or found in Iraq? Were they destroyed or are we waiting until it’s time to take the training wheels off the Iraqi Air Force? I’ll see if I can find any information but, if anyone has any knowledge in the area, please feel free to contribute in the comments.