Insurgent groups splitting from Qaeda

"An Iraqi militant group has highlighted the split in the ranks of the Iraqi insurgency by having its spokesman give a television interview in which he accuses al-Qaida and its umbrella organization of killing its members and pursuing the wrong policies.
"The gap has widened and the injustices committed by some brothers in al-Qaida have increased," Ibrahim al-Shimmari told Al-Jazeera television in an interview broadcast Wednesday and repeated Thursday.
. . . Al-Shimmari is the spokesman for the Islamic Army in Iraq, a Sunni militant group that first aired its grievances against al-Qaida and umbrella Islamic State of Iraq on its Web site last week.
. . . He accused al-Qaida of killing 30 members of the Islamic Army, and said the Islamic State of Iraq's claim to constitute a state was both inaccurate and incorrect policy.
. . . He was more critical of Iranian influence in Iraq than American, apparently out of opposition to the growing power of Iraq's Shiite majority, a trend that Shiite-dominant Iran supports." [1]

"Key Sunni militant groups are severing their association with al-Qaeda in Iraq.
. . . The Sunni insurgency in Iraq has long been fractious, in part because secular nationalists [and others] . . . have rejected al-Qaeda's tactics, particularly beheadings.
'They have realized that those people are not working for Iraq's interests,' said Alaa Makki, a Sunni member of parliament with close ties to the insurgents.
. . . Insurgent leaders . . . offered different explanations for their split. Many said their link to the al-Qaeda groups was tainting their image as a nationalist resistance force. Others said they no longer wanted to be tools of the foreign fighters who lead al-Qaeda. Their war, they insist, is against only the U.S. forces, to pressure them to depart Iraq.
. . . About three months ago, al-Qaeda fighters began targeting insurgent leaders.
. . . The Sunni groups are also divided over entering the political process, said Makki.
. . . 'If they maintain their independence from each other and each one has its different strategy, there will be chaos on the ground and chaos at the [negotiating] table,' said Tariq al-Hashimi, the Sunni vice president and leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party." [2]

sources
[1] Keath, Lee. (The Associated Press). Group Notes Split Among Iraq Insurgents. April 12, 2007.
[2] Raghavan, Sudarsan. (The Washington Post). Sunni Factions Split With Al-Qaeda Group. April 14, 2007.

posted: sunday, april 15, 2007, 3:28 PM ET

tags: iraq al qaeda islamic army in iraq

Police allowed Hilla bombings, survivors say

"In the chaotic aftermath of the Hilla blasts [which killed at least 77], survivors not only accused Sunni terrorists of carrying out the attacks but also blamed the Iraqi police and American forces for allowing them too happen.
Enraged, they said Iraqi policemen had stopped the Shiite marchers from searching unfamiliar people nearby.
'We hold the police responsible,' said Khudair Abbas, 67, a survivor. 'We were searching the pilgrims to look for terrorists, and a police force came and prevented us from searching, saying that it is their job to do. A few minutes after the police left, the explosion happened!'
Ahmad Hassan, 22 . . . said it appeared the police were intent on breaking up any effort by the Mahdi Army, the large militia controlled by anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, to impose its own security on the march, as in past years.
'But there was no Mahdi Army among us,' Mr. Hussain said. 'We were all locals from the same area.' " [1]

"Abdul Razak al-Nadawi, a spokesman for Sadr, denounced the attacks as 'a criminal act' and blamed the government for not protecting the pilgrims. Sadr representatives, he added, had asked the government to allow the Mahdi Army to help provide security along the route from Baghdad to Karbala, but the government did not take them up on the offer.
'Last year, when the Mahdi army was involved in securing the road, no attacks occurred, but this year we have seen the breaches that happened,' Nadawi said in a telephone interview from the southern city of Najaf. 'The government should have been more alert and better prepared to deal with the situation.'
Nadawi said that the Sadrists would not be pressured to retaliate against the Sunni insurgents. 'We are still committed and comply with the words of our leader, Moqtada Sadr, which call for calm and self-restraint,' he said." [2]

Would it be a bad idea to let the Mahdi Army do purely defensive security? And if the public wants to participate in their own security, it seems like they should be encouraged, especially if the ultimate goal is to build a democratic society. Supporting the public in their efforts also seems like an opportunity for the U.S. to build good relations with the Iraqi people. It might also be an opportunity to find good recruits for future local police officers as opposed to the current police force which seems to have a history of controversy. Not that the public should be allowed to become vigilantes, but their showing of initiative should be seen as a positive, hopeful sign and not something to be suppressed.

source
[1] Oppel, Richard A. Jr. (The New York Times). Attacks Across Iraq Kill at Least 109 Shiite Pilgrims. March 7, 2007.
[2] Londono, Ernesto & Raghavan, Sudarsan. (The Washington Post). 118 Shiite Pilgrims Killed in Iraq Attacks. March 7, 2007.

posted: wednesday, march 7, 2007, 10:56 PM ET
update: saturday, march 10, 2007, 9:02 AM ET

tags: iraq mahdi army police

U.S. outpost attacked after troops go to Baghdad

"In a rare coordinated assault on an American combat outpost north of Baghdad, suicide bombers drove one or more cars laden with explosives into the compound on Monday, while other insurgents opened fire in the ensuing chaos, according to witnesses and the American military. Two American soldiers were killed and at least 17 were wounded.
The brazen attack, which was followed by gun battles and an evacuation of the wounded by American helicopters, was almost surely the work of Sunni militants, most likely Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, according to American and Iraqi officials.
It appeared to be part of a renewed drive by insurgents in recent weeks as more American and Iraqi troops flood the streets of Baghdad and thousands of marines head to western Anbar Province to try to stem the violence. Hundreds of Iraqis have died in a recent wave of car bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere.
. . . A similar attack occurred last summer, when a suicide driver plowed a truck full of explosives into a military outpost near the town of Baghdadi, in Anbar Province, but that did not seem as coordinated as Monday’s assault." [1]

"The facility [was] a former Iraqi police station in the town of Tarmiyah.
. . . Tarmiyah, with about 150,000 residents, lies on one of the crucial routes to Baghdad, and U.S. forces and Sunni insurgents affiliated with the group al-Qaeda in Iraq have fought vigorously for control of the area. Insurgents had strengthened their grip on the town in recent months after the U.S. military moved a significant number of troops from the area to Baghdad. An Iraqi police unit trained in Jordan deserted last year after being threatened by insurgents.
'This is what happens when you clear and begin to hold, but leave before you finish the hold-and-build process,' a U.S. Army officer stationed nearby said Monday night, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'We created a vacuum, and al-Qaeda filled it. We lost the people's trust.' [2]

sources
[1] Santora, Marc. (The New York Times). Iraqi Militants Launch Attack on U.S. Outpost. February 20, 2007.
[2] Londono, Ernesto & Ricks, Thomas E. Ricks. (The Washington Post). Brazen Pre-Dawn Attack on U.S. Outpost in Iraq Kills 3, Injures 17. February 20, 2007.

posted: wednesday, february 21, 2007, 7:21 PM ET
update: wednesday, february 21, 2007, 7:55 PM ET

tags: iraq al qaeda insurgent surge