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Until foreign support for terrorists in Iraq is directly confronted and defeated the attacks will continue.
-Foreign Terrorists Fighting in Iraq
By Jonathan L. Snow
March 25, 2005
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=268185
Basic Facts
There have been few detailed examinations of the role of foreigners and foreign governments in the terrorist and insurgent attacks that have been taking place in Iraq.
Increasing evidence suggests, however, that al-Qaeda and other non-Ba'athist groups fighting in Iraq are made up largely of foreign terrorists who believe that they are taking part in a jihad a holy war against American infidels and those who support them or collaborate with them.
Although probably not numerous, these foreign terrorists appear to be responsible for a disproportionately large share of significant attacks and mass murders.
Terrorists and insurgents in Iraq, both Ba'athists and foreign jihadis, have been receiving considerable support from foreign governments particularly several of Iraq's neighbors.
That support includes direct funding as well as the provision of personnel, weapons, transportation and shelter. Such assistance greatly facilitates terrorist operations within Iraq.
Charges of Foreign Interference in Iraq
Iraqi and American officials have made many specific charges regarding the involvement by foreign governments in the terrorist attacks in Iraq:
It's quite clear that there is a sort of clear interference from Iran toward Iraq, especially in the provinces' edges until the border line. We are monitoring the penetration of many insurgents crossing the border, and again, we are using our diplomatic measures to treat this matter. - Iraqi Minister of State Kasim Daoud (1/27/05)
We need to work with the Iraqi government to keep up pressure on neighboring countries, particularly Syria, to stop the activities of Ba'athists and other terrorist supporters working from outside Iraq, and to stop the flow of foreign fighters into the country. Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz (2/3/05)
Terrorists, using Syrian territory, are contributing to the insurgency in Iraq. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (2/16/05)
We certainly know of the existence of many senior leaders from the former regime, beyond the borders of Iraq, financing terrorist operations inside Iraq and directing terrorist operations inside Iraq we are talking to neighbors as well to restrict the movements of these former regime loyalists and to bring them to justice before long. - Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih (1/28/05)
If you look on the other side, I think Syria is a short-term threat because of the support they provide to the former Ba'athist leaders that we see operating in and out of Syria. - Gen. George W. Casey Jr., Commander, Multi-National Forces in Iraq (12/16/04)
There are Iranian-made weapons that have been found in the hands of criminals in Najaf who received these weapons from across the Iranian border. - Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan (8/10/04)
There is Iranian support to al-Sadr's group, and this is no secret. - Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zurufi (8/10/04)
There is incitement to violence not only in the Jordanian press, but in the media of a number of neighboring nations and we cannot accept that at all. - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari (3/20/05)
Foreign Jihadists in Iraq
About 5% of the terrorist and insurgents are believed to be foreigners. The U.S. government estimates that there are 12,000-20,000 terrorists and insurgents currently operating in Iraq. Officials estimate that, of those, approximately 1,000 are foreigners.
But foreign terrorists appear to be responsible for many of the deadliest attacks. Although a small percentage of the overall insurgency, al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is believed to be responsible for many of the deadliest acts of terrorism. Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed credit for all but one of the mass killings in 2005 that were included by The London Telegraph in its list of Major bomb attacks in Iraq. When Iraqi officials arrested Zarqawi lieutenant Sami Mohammed Ali Said al-Jaaf in January 2005, he confessed to being responsible for 75% of the car bombings that had taken place in Baghdad since March 2003.
A majority of the members of the Zarqawi-led al-Qaeda group are from neighboring states with Saudi Arabia topping the list. An analysis of the al-Qaeda-linked jihadists killed in Iraq shows that the majority of these terrorists came from neighboring states. Terrorism expert Reuven Paz of The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), has reviewed the lists of jihadists killed in Iraq that have been posted on the Internet by supporters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. His analysis shows that the top five home countries for jihadists in Iraq were Saudi Arabia (61%), Syria (10.4%), Iraq (8.4%), Kuwait (7.1%), and Jordan (2.5%). All of these countries (other than Iraq itself), are neighbors of Iraq, demonstrating the ease with which terrorists have been able to cross borders.
Iraq's single deadliest attack to date was committed by a Jordanian suicide bomber. On February 28, 2005, a suicide bomber attacked police recruits in the town of Hilla, killing 125 people. In response to news reports that the bomber was celebrated as a martyr in his native Jordan, Iraqis later protested at the Jordanian embassy, calling for all foreign Arabs to leave their country.
Foreigners confess. Al Iraqiya television in Iraq has run a series of interviews with captured insurgents, many of whom were foreigners. These interviews have included confessions from Syrian, Egyptian, and Sudanese terrorists.
Iranians are also well represented among the insurgents in Iraq. While generally not active participants in al-Qaeda due to sectarian differences, Iranians have been heavily involved in the fighting in Iraq, notably through involvement with the Mahdi army of Muqtada al-Sadr.
Despite sectarian differences, the Iranian government supports Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported in August 2004 that Qassim Sullaimani, the commander of Al-Quds corps of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, explained that the cooperation with Zarqawi serve(s) the high interests of the Islamic Republic.
US News & World Report reviewed thousands of pages of intelligence reports documenting Iranian involvement. Its report concludes that there is little doubt about the depth of Iran's involvement in supporting elements of the insurgency and in positioning itself to move quickly in Iraq if it believes a change in circumstances there dictates such action.
Iranian operatives have been captured with explosives. In July 2004, Iraqi and American forces captured two men with explosives, who admitted to being Iranian intelligence agents. This was the first instance where captured insurgents admitted to being Iranian operatives.
Iranian-funded Hezbollah TV promotes attacks in Iraq. Hezbollah's al-Manar television, which receives funding from Iran, regularly broadcasts programming calling for terrorist attacks against coalition forces in Iraq. This propaganda, available throughout the Arab world, and watched by an estimated 10 million viewers, helps provide the insurgency with legitimacy and recruits.
Ba'athi insurgents have also admitted to receiving direct aid from the governments of Syria and Iran. In January 2005, Al-Fayhaa TV, based in the United Arab Emirates, ran an interview with Muayed Al-Nasseri, commander of the Ba'athist insurgent group The Army of Muhammad, who said: "We got aid primarily from Iran. The truth is that Iran has played a significant role in supporting the Army of Muhammad and many factions of the resistance. I have some units, especially in southern Iraq, which receive Iranian aid in the form of arms and equipment." He added: "Through the [Syrian] Ba'ath party - the [Iraqi] Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party operates in Syria with complete freedom. It maintains its relations and organizes the Ba'ath members outside Iraq. The Syrian government is fully aware of this and the Syrian intelligence, as well as the [Syrian] Ba'ath Party cooperates fully in Syria.
Syria has sheltered many Iraqi Ba'athists and has allowed them to freely cross the border. Many of the Ba'athist leaders of the insurgency are operating out of Syria, and Syrian intelligence has been cooperating with ex-Iraqi intelligence officers who lead the insurgency. Terrorists captured in Fallujah had in their position pictures of Syrian officials, including a picture of a senior Syrian official standing alongside Moayed Ahmed Yasseen, the leader of the Jaish Mohammed Ba'athist terrorist group.
Syria produced wanted Iraqi official. Although Syria has repeatedly denied that it is protecting Iraqi Ba'athists, it turned over to Iraqi authorities a half-brother of Saddam Hussein when under political pressure. After the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut, the Syrians responded by mysteriously producing Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, suggesting that they had for some time had knowledge of his whereabouts and movements.
Conclusions
Foreigners make up only about 5% of terrorists in Iraq, but their involvement in many of the largest and deadliest attacks demonstrates that foreigners have an influence over the violence in Iraq that is hugely disproportional to their percentage of the insurgency.
The support by many of Iraq's neighbors for these foreign jihadists, as well as Iraqi Ba'ath party remnants, has allowed the terrorists within Iraq to continue to kill and injure innocent civilians and interfere with the rebuilding of Iraqi society. Foreign support clearly has helped to fuel and sustain the terrorist insurgency.
Foreign interference in Iraq shows little signs of abating at this time and it is unclear what steps are being taken against such outside intervention, other then the registering of diplomatic complaints.
