By Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor EFL Hat tip to the Brothers Judd
Washington fingered Ansar al-Islam as a terrorist group experimenting with poisons, and used its tenuous links to Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda to help justify the war against Iraq. . . . Lengthy interviews with several Ansar members now in custody, and with officials and intelligence sources of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in northern Iraq, . . . describe a group now so decimated and demoralized that even true believers admit it is unlikely to be reborn according to its old template.
| That's because they've been whupped... |
Instead, they say, elements of the group have begun operating in smaller cells. The "Ansar" label today, they add, is also being assumed by cheap knockoffs Islamic militants of all stripes, and used freely by the US-led coalition, regardless of ties to the original Kurdish group.
| Which was made up of at least three disparate groups... |
But the picture now emerging shows, too, how Washington exaggerated
[or maybe just "overestimated"]
aspects of the threat from the 600 to 800 Ansar members. Ansar was once part of a long-term Al Qaeda dream to spread Islamic rule from Afghanistan to Kurdistan and beyond. But that idea was embryonic at best, and when US forces attacked Afghanistan in October 2001, Al Qaeda support for Ansar dried up.
| Timing is everything, I guess. They started arriving in Kurdistan just before 9-11-01 and Binny — actually Abu Zubaydah, who was their controller — suddenly found himself with more important concerns. |
And despite the later arrival of some Afghan veterans and Arab fighters — and a new influx of donor cash — Ansar for 1 1/2 years was isolated, manipulated by both Iraq and Iran, and locked in stalemate with far superior Kurdish forces. Its "poison factory" proved primitive; nothing but substances commonly used to kill rodents were found there.
| Except for a bit of Ricin. Apparently the makin's are pretty easy to transport, since Zarqawi was lugging them around for awhile... |
"Donât make Ansar that big — we make them great, and they are nothing, just terrorists," says Dana Ahmed Majid, the PUK security chief. "With the help of Al Qaeda and the support of all Islamic groups, they are trying to rebuild."
| On the other hand, PUK wasn't able to throw them out of their bridgehead until the B52s showed up... |
But instead of rebuilding a guerrilla force, Kurdish intelligence officials say Ansar is sending out small, freshly activated cells. And instead of just attacking secular Kurdish authorities — the root motivation of Ansar and its predecessor Islamist groups — these cells may be shifting to an anti-US mission, in tandem with Saddam Hussein loyalists.
Shifting? Do you mean that before the Iraq campaign they were on our side?
| Before the Iraq campaign the Kurdish bloc of Ansar tried to expand their base in Kurdistan. Al-Tawhid, Zarqawi's mob, was more cosmopolitan and seems to have used the area as a base camp and planning center when not jetting off to Europe to get arrested for planning attacks. |
"Al Qaeda has turned Iraq into a battleground against America," says Barham Salih, prime minister of the PUK area of northern Iraq, who equates Ansar with Al Qaeda. "Ansar was delivered a very big blow. They were not over. Eradication is a long-term process. Everyone is throwing everything into this battle — thatâs why we must win."
| An idea CSM seems to have trouble with... |
While most estimates cap the number of new foreign fighters that have entered Iraq in the past six months at 1,000, CIA assessments reportedly put the number as high as 3,000. Only a small minority are believed to be tied to Al Qaeda.
âScuse the interruption, but if, as you said six paragraphs ago, Ansar was "part of a long-term Al Qaeda dream to spread Islamic rule" and got support from Al Qaeda before the fall of â01, wouldnât anyone in Ansar be "tied to Al Qaeda" by definition? Just askinâ.
| And "only a small minority are believed to be tied to al-Qaeda" before setting off for Iraq to join al-Qaeda (and its wholly-owned subsidiaries) for the Big Battle against the infidels... |
Emblematic of the mysterious history and inner workings of Ansar is the experience of holy warriors like Gharib and two others, who were made available at the Monitorâs request by the PUK. Questioned separately for more than 13 hours, the former Ansar guerrillas appeared to speak freely. Proud of their handiwork, they also stated their view that Ansar was finished as an organization.
Good. You lost, and you know you lost. Thatâs good. You need to remember that.
As an Arab speaker in the ethnically Kurdish group, Gharib was transferred in 2001 to Sargat, where Arab fighters were based in their "Ghurba Katiba" (or "Imported Goon Squad" "Strangerâs Unit"). "Even the Arab Afghans who came did not exceed 50 in total, and included people unfamiliar with guns who probably never fired a bullet in their lives," says Gharib. Despite the broad inexperience, among them were several jihad veterans. A few Kurds were also Afghan war veterans, and proved to be powerful trainers. Al Qaeda was held up as the model.
[Thereâs that "tied to Al Qaeda" thing again.]
"This was the sense of everybody, that we were linked to Al Qaeda," says Sangar Mansour, a short, wiry detainee with a youthful face and thin moustache. "[We] looked like Al Qaeda, gave orders like Al Qaeda, trained like Al Qaeda, and used their videotapes" of Afghan operations.
[If it waddles like Al Qaeda and swims like Al Qaeda and quacks like Al Qaeda, then itâs . . . .]
"Some non-Kurds had US military uniforms, that they put on when the [US] attacks started," Mr. Mansour says. He saw a worn photograph one of his friends kept under his pillow, of Ansar security chief Ayub Afghani, eating with Osama bin Laden. Arab militants had begun to trickle into northern Iraq to join the Kurds well before Ansar was officially formed in December 2001. Their presence helped bolster the isolated Kurdish militants.
| Prior to that, I guess they were heading for Jund al-Islam, which folded into Ansar... |
"Many people grew more committed to this fighting, because they thought: If foreigners are coming here to fight, this must be serious, this must be real," says Diyar Latif Taher, a Kurdish Islamist detainee. He says the number of foreigners never exceeded 90. "They did not say they were members of Al Qaeda, but whenever there was a successful Qaeda operation — an ambush, or hitting a US base in Afghanistan — they were celebrating," says Mr. Taher. Bin Laden was "praised."
| Where does he think the money for the guns, ammunition, beans, blankets, and fresh turbans came from? |
"[We] shared the same ideas [with Al Qaeda], and we should be impressed with their leaders, their tactics and their victories, and feel sorry for their losses — otherwise we would not be true believers," says Gharib. "There was this dream of declaring jihad in this part of the world, and kicking out secular authority. And this dream got larger."
Waddle, swim, quack, et cetera.
But keeping away from the manipulations of local powers was not easy. The Iranians flooded the Ansar area with extremely cheap food supplies, then stopped them abruptly, to squeeze concessions out of Ansar.
"They said they loved us, but they were just using us!"
Baghdad played a similar role, by using smugglers and middlemen to provide dirt-cheap weapons to Ansar. "Then it stopped - boom! - and you had to beg for it, and make concessions," Gharib says. "I tell you, Ansar was the biggest buyer [from Baghdad]."
But thereâs no connection between Al Quaeda/Ansar and the Hussein regime! Thatâs what the New York Times said. They couldnât print it if it wasnât true, could they?
So the key to success was funding, especially after Al Qaeda support dried up in late 2001. Thatâs where Gharibâs video camera and ability to burn propaganda CDs came in. They showed everything from Koran lessons and road building to training and offensive operations. "These CDs were extremely important, because they were our income source — we sent them back up the cash chain to donors," Gharib says, holding up his black prayers beads to illustrate the linkages. After one successful attack, funding came "like rain...from everywhere."
Later came JDAMs like rain from everywhere, but weâre getting ahead of the story.
"Itâs not governments, but people from rich countries, Kuwait, Saudi, and Qatar-rich people who are too spineless would not dare to take part, but sent support to establish Islamic rule," says Gharib. Such donors did not pay for Ansar to "have a truce" with the PUK, but instead demanded action. "There were groups claiming jihad, but just stealing money. So they ask: âWhere is your product? Where is your fighting?â"
"Iâm paying you to go out and die gloriously for the Prophet! Get out there and stop some bullets!"
So training was serious, under the tutelage of a tough turncoat Kurdish Afghan veteran called Ali Wali. "It was unlike any training I had ever seen," says Mansour. "They put down ropes to cross an area, and put sacks of soil on their backs and climbed mountains while avoiding bullets. They used kung fu, and learned how to counter attack with a gun at your back."
"Everybody was kung fu fighting/Those fists were fast as lightening . . . "
"You felt [Mr. Wali] was born to train - they even depended on him in Afghanistan," says Gharib. "Besides weapons, he taught psychological warfare, and dealing with pressure during battle. He was playing with your nerves, until you were able to withstand the pressure." Later, as US-Kurdish ground forces advanced, Ansar evacuated to Iran. But Ansarâs reception was mixed. "The Iranians started to fire at us," says Taher, who speaks Farsi.
Uh, Taher, where I come from, thatâs not a "mixed" reception.
They finally talked to Revolutionary Guards at the border, handed over their guns, and at 8 a.m. they were driven to the nearest Iranian village. At 10 a.m., they were hustled back. "An angry official came out and stuck an Iranian flag into the ground," Taher recalls. "This is the border with Iran — donât cross it!" he warned. But his group found a nearby valley, and were taken to a large prison hall in a border town, where they found 100 more militants. They stayed a week, and were each interrogated in front of video cameras by Iranian agents, before being taken back to the border, given back their weapons, and told to "Go, go, go!"
"And donât let the border gate hit you in the butt on the way out!"
Ayub Afghani was later arrested by the Iranians, Mansour says, when he was caught with six pistols, fake documents, and several foreign passports.
"Itâs a birthday present for my mom. She collects this stuff."
Mansour eventually returned home, and turned himself in to the PUK.
Which says something about the hospitality of Iranian prisons.
Such has been the fate of the majority of Ansarâs original members, say these detained militants, which makes them skeptical that the group can be behind many of the current attacks in Iraq. Gharib estimates that of the 600 Ansar members, some 250 were killed, 50 "were officials who ran away," and the rest have been arrested by the PUK, have given themselves up, or are still in semi-hiding in Iran. "This virtually means that Ansar is over, by the numbers," says Gharib. "Anybody saying these [current attacks] are done by Ansar has no information. They canât do it."
While I disagree with some of the analytical spin, this is a good, detailed bit of reporting.
The Monitor has been turning out a lot of good, detailed reporting from Iraq recently. How is it that the New York Times and the AP are getting scooped by the Christian Science Monitor? |
The Iraqi Government, in a statement, said security troops killed Ali Wali, 38, a leading member of the radical group, Ansar Al-Islam, in an operation in the district of Al-Mansour, two days ago, adding that the man had joined warriors in Afghanistan, imprisoned for falsifying documents and received training for terror and bombing attacks. Later, police in the capital reported locating dead bodies of two journalists, who worked for the Iraqi Al-Nahrain satellite television station, in the south of the capital. The two men, who were kidnapped yesterday, were shot with gunfire.