In the Red Zone

QUOTES OF THE DAY

Obscene phone call

Your brother has been killed in a martyrdom operation.  Congratulations.

-- an anonymous caller claiming to represent an anti-Iraqi group called "Brothers in the Gulf"

According to the NYT's Dexter Filkins, the al-Banna family of Jordan received this call three days after the February 28 bombing at Hilla, Iraq, which killed more than 130 people.  When Iraqis heard reports that a Jordanian perpetrated the atrocity, hundreds protested in front of the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad, burning a Jordanian flag.  (For more on this story, and some peculiarities of the flag, see Power Line.)

According to Mr. Filkins's story, Mansur Banna, father of the suspected bomber,  Raad, claims that his son was a pro-American youth who enjoyed the 18 months he spent in southern California, from 2000-2002.  As for Mr. Mansur himself, he denied any hostility toward the U.S.  "The Americans are in Iraq, trying to make a new Iraq.  Please tell the Americans we support them."

Nevertheless, the al-Banna family reportedly composed an obituary in a local newspaper for Raad, which described their son as a "martyr" who had died doing God's work.

Update:  The inestimable Baghdad Dweller offers a translation of the Jordanian news article that incited the Iraqi rioting.  I have to admit, I did not know about the  phenomenon of "divine weddings," but BD's assessment of the moral repugnance of the practice seems precisely on-target.  This is perversity on a frighteningly profound level.

QUOTES OF THE DAY

Note:  After a brief blogging-hiatus to complete some (paying) assignments (as in this month's Reason, where I have an article on a topic only tangentially related to Iraq), I've decided to make some changes in Redzone's format.  Less original material, more links.  Easier to read, easier to write, more user- and producer-friendly, etc.  In addition, I'll post material all through the day, to satisfy that web-surfing itch of mine, and no doubt yours. 

And now, onto the day's events...

Like reading too much Wahhabi propaganda

Everybody makes mistakes.

-- Ahmd Omar Abu Ali, in a letter written to his parents from a Saudi Arabian prison.

As we know, the U.S. government has charged Mr. Abu Ali with plotting to assassinate President Bush and to carry out other terrorist attacks.  According to FBI agent Barry Cole, the 23 year-old confessed to him while Saudi custody that he had joined an Al Qaeda cell and planned to hi-jack an airliner to use in a manner similar to 9-11.  He allegedly gave Mr. Cole a letter to his parents, who live in Falls Church, Virginia, in which he acknowledged he would probably be sent to jail because of the terrorism charges. 

For more thoughts on the Abu Ali case, see my post on Chester.

*

Shiite happens

Maybe now, after all that has happened in Iraq, we will take something political from the story of Hussein.  Now the issue will take another route, because Shiites have started the growth of their political culture.

-- Saudi Shiite Nabih al-Ibrahim

(Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times)

The headline for MacFarquhar's article says it all:  "Saudi Shiites, Long Kept Down, Look to Iraq and Assert Rights."  This may yet prove the most pregnant turn of events in the post-Jan. 30 environment.  For my take on "Shia power," go here  and here.

*

Remember, it wasn't easy in 1775 either

The plan is to open the national assembly next week [between March 6 and 10]. We will open the parliament whether or not there is an agreement.

-- Jawad al-Maliky, deputy to Shiite candidate for Prime Minister, Ibrahim Jaafari.

(Al Jareeza)

*

With the business end of an M-16

The language used by the White House indicates a campaign similar to the one that preceded the attack on Iraq.  We are essential for the peace process, for Iraq.  Look, perhaps one day the Americans will come and knock on our door.

-- Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, speaking to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica

(Eli Lake, New York Sun)

*

Too late

Things are starting to change.  When the Sunnis talk to us now, they insist they are separate from the terrorists because they don't want Iraqi blood on their hands.

-- United Iraqi Alliance member Salama Al-Khafji

(Farnaz Fassihi, Wall Street Journal)

QUOTES OF THE DAY

Keeping the mullahs blind

Imagine what the recent fighting in Fallujah might have been like if Iraqi insurgents had the same caliber night-vision goggles as our own troops.

-- Dean Boyd, spokesman for Homeland Security Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, on the need for stricter control of weapons and technology sales to Iran.

(Robert Block, Wall Street Journal)

*

Dressing down the colonel

Bullshit!  It is your fault.  Just like everything here is your fault because you don't hold anyone accountable.  You don't discipline your troops.  You don't maintain basic standards.

-- Marine Captain Jamie Farrelly , responding to an excuse by an Iraqi officer named Colonel Yassir that the poor showing of Iraqi soldiers wasn't his fault. 

(Greg Jaffe, Wall Street Journal)

*

Dead men tell no tales

I think they've got a problem.

-- Edward B. MacMahoh, Jr., speaking about federal prosecutors who have charged his client, Omar Abu Ali with aiding Al Qaeda.

MacMahon is refering to the fact that one of the two "unnamed co-conspirators" who claim that Ali had entered into discussions with Al Qaeda to kill President Bush died in a shoot-out with Saudi authorities in 2003.  The case against Abu Ali appears at this point very weak.  Worse, according to a federal judge, "There has been at least some circumstantial evidence that Abu Ali has been tortured during interrogations with the knowledge of the United States."

(Eric Lichtblau and Neela Banerjee, New York Times)

*

And he's kind to children, too

In prison I discovered the human aspects of [Al Qaeda mastermind Ayman] Al-Zawahri’s character. I realized that his thoughts depended on an Islamist military coup d’etat of the ruling regime. In the meantime, he was a delicate poet who wrote Islamic poetry.

-- Egyptian lawyer and author Montasser Al-Zayat, on his new book Islamist Groups:  A View from Within

(Noha El-Hennay, Egypt Today)

*

The principled Left

I thought it was right to oppose the war. But history moves on and the Iraqi people now have a golden opportunity to take back their country and build a decent non-sectarian democracy based on social justice. There are huge obstacles but I hope that parts of the left don't make themselves part of the problem by ignoring the urgent need to back the new Iraqi labour movement. Labour Against the War is standing in the way of solidarity and I have resigned to help alert the wider movement to the need to support Grassroots Iraq.

-- left-wing MP Harry Barnes, after resigning from the English group Labour Against the War.

(Labour Friends of Iraq)

*

The Ptolemaic universe of the Saracens

The emotional reaction to the disaster is what was lacking. The Arabs’ ability to empathize with humanity at large is less than their ability to sympathize with each other. Our concept of humanity is still weak compared to our ethnic feelings as Arabs and Muslims, despite the fact that most of the victims were Indonesian Muslims. The truth is, Southeast Asians are not perceived as Muslims in the Arab world.

-- Gamal Abdel Gawad, analyst at the Cairo-based Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, speaking of the Arab world's weak response to tsunami victims

(Rania al-Malky, Egypt Today)

QUOTES OF THE DAY

[Illness, exhaustion and work have consumed me for the time being, so blogging will be light again.  I do have a post up on Chester today, which I hope you will read.  Tomorrow, insha'allah, I will be in better form.  But for the time being--]

Parental notification

It's lies.  It's all lies.  The government lied from the very first day.

-- Omar Abu Ali, father of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, whom the U.S. government has charged with providing support for terrorism and for training with Al Qaeda. 

Also mentioned in the federal indictment are Abu Ali's alleged plans to assassinate George Bush.  For more details, check out my aforementioned post on Chester.

For the federal indictment of Abu Ali, go here.

*

Exit polls

Unity is more important than winning.

-- Ahmad Chalabi on why he withdrew his bid to become the Shia nominee for the Prime Minister position, promising to support Ibrahim Jaafari instead.

I have heard they don't want me.  Why, God knows.

-- Ayad Allawi, remarking on the fact that Iraq's religious leaders do not want him to serve as the country's prime minister.

Still, the Shia alliance controls 140 parliamentary seats out of 275--meaning they have to curry support from the Kurds--who control 75 seats--and possibly Allawi's slate, which holds 40.  As Kurdish politician Barham Salih put it,

Anything is possible.  In the past, it used to be Saddam Hussein who made all the decisions for us Iraqis.  But now this is an open game, and you will see shifting alliances.

This includes the possibility of some Shia defecting to join the other parties.  Or, as Allawi told the New York Times,

What it boils down to is that there are a lot of secular Shiites in the alliance.

With many issues to solve, among them the nature of federalism and the place of Islam in the new constitution, the disposition of Kirkuk and revenue-sharing agreements over oil.  Not to mention the fascist counter-liberation.  On this point, at least, Jaafari sounds encouraging:

I don't believe that anybody, be they Sunnis or any other religious doctrine, will allow these people to destroy our country, and there should be a force that will stop them and put an end to the bloodshed.

(John F. Burns, Dexter Filkins, New York Times)

*

Passive-Aggressive

We expect your retaliation. It is what unites us and divides you.

-- from the HBO-BBC TV movie "Dirty War," which depicts a fictitious dirty bomb attack in downtown London. 

In this particularly chilling scene, English investigators warn an Islamofascist that the U.K. will strike back for the terrorist attack he organized on London.  The character's reply articulates the very core of terrorist tactics.  The question remains, however:  how would a country react to a terrorist attack on one of its major cities, especially if invading a country--such as Iraq--is not an option?  By secretly forming Christian suicide militias to attack Muslim holy sites, but leave no trace of government involvement? 

QUOTES OF THE DAY

She's baa-ack...

I honestly cannot explain why Americans consistently embrace war and are now talking about expanding it.

-- anti-war maven Leslie Cagan, now the national coordinator of a new group called United for Peace and Justice.

(Roderick Boyd, New York Sun)

*

Junk mail

If I were in Iraq and read that the youth of our nation doesn't believe in what I'm doing, it would mess up my head.

-- Pfc. Rob Jacobs

Last month, Private Jacobs, who is stationed in Korea, received a batch of letters from sixth grade school kids attending JHS 51 in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  The letters were part of a school assignment organized by the kids' teacher to show support for our troops.  But as the New York Post reported, one girl wrote her misgivings that Jacobs is "being forced to kill innocent people."  Another wrote, "I strongly feel this war is pointless," while a third future Leslie Cagan predicted that with Bush's re-election, "only 50 or 100 [soldiers] will survive."  Perhaps watching too much Al Jazeera, a boy accused GIs of "destroying holy places like mosques."  New York's Department of Education is looking into the matter.

Says Jacobs, "It boggles my mind that children could think this stuff."

*

Dept. of Pointless Distinctions

Our aim is to make students aware of the danger of terrorism.  The problem is that some youth cannot distinguish between Jihad and terrorism, though there is a sharp line between the two.

-- Saudi education official Bahiya Al-Nagadi

Al-Nagadi is referring to the just-completed two-week educational effort mounted in the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, intended to teach school kids the downside of supporting Islamofascists.  Let's hope they do a better job than JHS 51.

(Arab News)

QUOTES OF THE DAY

[Note:  light blogging today, as I try to catch up on work and sleep, unfortunately in that order.  You can still catch my piece on  Chester, "The God Complex"--and look for a sequel on his site this Thursday.]

Jumping the Shia gun

UPDATE:  CNN reported just minutes ago that Ibrahim al-Jaafari is the Shia coalition's nominee for the prime minister position.

I believe I have a majority of the [UIA] votes on my side right now.

-- Media-wise Ahmad Chalabi, appointing himself the favorite to become Iraq's new prime minister.  At the same time, however, sources within the Shi'ite coalition announced that Dawa party leader Ibrahim Jaafari would be its candidate for the top slot. 

(AFP)

Update:  we now read that Allawi is stepping back into the fray, having garnered the support of several non-Shia parties for his bid to retain his Prime Minister post.  This is good news, of course--not that Allawi is the best man for the position, but it indicates the degree of horse-trading taking place among Iraqi leaders, and the fact that the Shia may not have the lock on victory as everyone has assumed.

(Mariam Karouny, Reuters, via Informed Comment)

*

Declaration of independence

It is my civic duty as a Lebanese to take part in this uprising.  Enough bloodshed and disasters. It is the 21st century, and people should be able to govern themselves. The situation has become unbearable and we have to regain our country.

-- Youssef Mukhtar, a 47-year-old engineer  in Beirut

(Zeina Karam, AP, via Little Green Footballs)

Karam's writes that "tens of thousands" of people marched in the streets of Beirut to register their opposition to Syria's continued illegal occupation of Lebanon.  DEBKAfile reports, however, that only "thousands" marched--"not a massive turn-out"--and that opposition hopes were further set back by when Lebanese parliament speaker Shiite Berri declared his support for the pro-Syrian government.   Still, with those two cowboys, Bush and Chirac, gunning for Assad, how long can the varmint stay in control?

*

Reality TV

They told me I had to fight a holy war against the Americans. [Terrorist leader] Abdullah told me my children would be killed if I did not obey.

-- Saad Ghanim, confessing in a videotape broadcast on Iraq's state-run Iraqiyya TV network that terrorists paid him $500 to rob a man of $30,000, then kill him.  Ghanim's concern for his children only went so far, it seems:  he further admitted on TV to spending his share of the loot on "gambling."

(Michael Gregory, Daily Times)

*

Boycotters' regret III

We made a big mistake when we didn't vote.  Our votes were very important.

-- Sunni Sheik Hathal Younis Yahiya

When we said that we are not going to take part, that didn't mean that we are not going to take part in the political process. We have to take part in the political process and draft the new constitution

-- Adnan al-Duleimi, the head of Sunni Endowments in Baghdad.

(Patrick Quinn, AP)

This increasing awakening of Sunni leaders comes even as U.S. officials and "resistance" commanders have opened "back-channel" negotiations. 

Obviously, this is fantastic news.  But I don't think we should go as far as Power Line and suggest the fascists are ready to surrender--not when when New York Times' James Glanz reports how the paramilitaries are essentially attacking Baghdad's  fuel, water and transportation lifelines. This is the 21st century form of siege warfare and militants with this level of knowledge and sophistication are not ready to surrender, not soon, at any rate.

Having said that, however, I find it ridiculous--almost offensive--to read Juan Cole state that "the anonymous elections have not had a significant impact in this guerrilla war."  It almost sounds--and I know this can't be true because Mr. Cole is a honorable man--the good professor would be disappointed if the case were otherwise.  Still, since his comments are so informed, he can remind us once again:  what exactly are the goals of this "insurgency?"

QUOTES OF THE DAY I

[Note:  Chester has been kind enough to offer me some valuable real estate on his must-read site for some some regular posts--my first contribution is up today.]

Live by the sword...

He was an idiot.  It was a Sunni funeral, not a Shia one.

-- Iraqi housewife Um Self, commenting on the homicidal martyr who, on Saturday, rode a bicycle into a tent full of mourners in southwest Baghdad before detonating himself, killing three and wounding 55

(Dexter Filkins, New York Times)

*

Abominable snowmen

The Taliban have enough forces now, and we are regrouping to increase the number of fighters and attacks following the winter throughout Afghanistan.

-- Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi, speaking from his hideout on an icy mountaintop in the winter-bound province of Zabul

(Sayed Salahuddin, Reuters)

*

Unless you're manning an Iranian air-to-ground missile battery at a nuclear facility

You never want a president to say "never."

-- George Bush, when asked by reporters in Washington whether the U.S. planned to attack Iran

(AP News)

*

Lebanon Agonistes

God forbid, if the roof collapses, it collapses on all of us.

-- Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah on the need to "remedy the crisis" through peaceful means.

(Alistair Lyon, Reuters)

Naturally.  Hezbollah is in violation of U.N. Resolution 1559, passed in September, 2004, which calls for the "disbanding and disarming of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias."  Should Syria withdraw from Lebanon, the Shia terrorists (or, social service workers, if you're French or work for the U.N.) would lose their protectors and face international pressure to lay down arms.  No wonder then, that Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Kassem told his follower in Beirut last Friday,

To those who say, "What are we going to do about the international resolution 1559," we say: "Come, let's bury 1559 together.  Say with us: God's curse on this international resolution. If we do not bother with it, it will fall by itself, because America, Israel and France and those behind them cannot enforce it directly, they need hands. 

Ominously, Sheik Kassem added,

Stop the hands from helping them and it will fall.

Four days later, a massive explosion killed Rakif Harriri; the prime minister was widely perceived to be an influential force behind 1559.

*

We cannot stay hostages, prisoners of a police state.  The Lebanese will stick the course and Lebanon will be independent, free and democratic.

-- Opposition leader Walid Jumblatt, member of Lebanon's Druze community, speaking to a crowd in front of Hariri's Beirut home.

(Mohalhel Fakih, Al-Ahram Weekly)

The always-excitable DEBKafile reports that Syrian authorities have begun "distributing weapons to groups supporting Damascus and the 1.4 million expatriate laborers in the country."  Meanwhile, Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister Omar Karame has accused Jumblatt, in addition to allies among Lebanon's Christian and Sunni Muslim communities, of planning a coup d'etat.

Sunni Muslims in Lebanon feel that the killing targets them, their existence, role and dignity.

-- Sheikh Mohamed Rashid Qabbani, Lebanon's Sunni Mufti

It's interesting to note that the situation in Syria, and to lesser extent Lebanon, is in some ways the reverse of Iraq.  Syria's ruling clique is Alawi Muslim, an off-shoot of Shi'ism, and totals some 12 percent of the population, while the Sunnis comprise around 70 percent.  (Martin Kramer has an informative run-down on the history here.)  By pushing against the Assad regime, Washington is in effect assisting Sunnis against their Shia oppressors.  An example, perhaps, of the U.S. strategy of playing the various sects of Islam against one another for maximum advantage.

QUOTES OF THE DAY II

Going home

These quotes come from "Good night Fallujah:  'Raider' starts for home" a story by the Christian Science Monitor's superb Iraq journalist Scott Peterson.  Peterson writes about U.S. Marines of the First Light Armored Reconnaissance, Charlie Company, who have been stationed in Fallujah since November.  Come this April, insha'allah, they will be on a flight for Camp Pendleton, California--and home.

Fallujah was the best of times and the worst of times; the most exciting, the most eventful and extraordinary; and the most scary, most miserable, most death-defying...I feel like [Fallujah] was the pinnacle of my existence - that nothing I will ever do will be like what I have done. 

-- Cpl. Christopher DeBlanc

The more I think about it, the worse my dreams will be.

-- Navy Corpsman Nick "Doc" Navarrette

[T]he smells - that's what I hate about this place. There are only two smells: smoke or death, one or the other.

-- Lance Cpl. Jeff Merbs

I'm looking forward to the simple life.  Getting home, getting a house with a porch and a rocking chair, and cleaning my shotgun all day.

-- Cpl. Tony Milholin

(Thanks to reader Ron G.)

QUOTES OF THE DAY

Bloody Ashura

Those infidel Wahhabis, those Osama bin Laden followers, they did this because they hate Shiites.  They are afraid of us. They are not Muslims. They are infidels.

-- Sari Abdullah, a worshipper at Baghdad's al-Khadimain mosque, wounded in one of five explosives that targeted Ashura worshippers. 

It's a paradoxical idea when they claim that they are fighting the infidels and at the same time, they kill Muslims during Friday prayers

-- Iraqi national security advisor Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie

They kill unarmed men, women and children who want to glorify the ceremonies of Ashoura. These terrorist actions will not intimidate us nor make us change the way that we choose freedom from tyranny and oppression.  We chose the path of brotherhood, cooperation and unity between Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Shabak, Turkomen and Christians and all other sects.

-- Dawa party official Walid al-Hilly, speaking on Al Jazeera.

(Tod Pitman, AP news)

Five suicide bombings, over 40 people killed and wounded--on the holiest day of the Shia religious calendar.  Imagine Islamic terrorists doing the same in the U.S. on Christmas, and what our reaction would be.  With that image in mind, the restraint of Iraq's Shia population in the face of this carnage is all the more remarkable.  It helps, of course, that the Sunni terrorists are, in effect, protected by American troops from Shia-Kurdish retaliation.  And yet while America loses its soldiers in an attempt to defend all Iraqi's from terrorism, Osama bin Laden and his ilk are killing more Muslims that they have infidels.  What in God's name is the point of this war?

QUOTES OF THE DAY

[I'm still getting myself settled after a two-day trip to Washington, so blogging will be light, however...]

Voices of the occupied

Syria Out!

Hey Syria--Who's Next?

There is no God but God.  Hariri is beloved of God.

-- banners and chants at the funeral of Rafik Hariri

I'm here because we're fed up with what's going on.  For once there is a movement that includes Muslims, Christians and Druse, that's saying 'enough.'"

-- a Lebanese man quoted by Hassan M. Fattah in yesterday's New York Times.  Lebanon's Muslim, Christian and Druse communities, frequently at odds with one another, have joined together in outrage over Hariri's  assassination.  Not only that, but, as Fattah reports, "hundreds of women, breaking with Islamic tradition, joined in the march."

*

Our Friends the Saudis

Terrorism does not belong to any culture, or religion or political system.  It is a global crime perpetrated by evil minds filled with hatred towards humanity...This conference represents the will of the international community to combat this crime in every aspect by fighting evil with justice, confronting deviant thought with wisdom and noble ideas and challenging extremism with moderation and tolerance.

-- Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah bin Adul-Aziz

The leadership and commitment the Saudis have shown towards finding practical and effective ways to fight terrorism are commendable...In working closely with the Saudi leadership over the past few years, together we have developed some key lessons about combating terrorism.

-- Homeland Security Adviser to the President, Frances Townsend

These quotes embellished a full-page advertisement which appeared in yesterday's New York Times.  The four-color ad--from the "Saudi National Unity Campaign Against Terrorism." (SNUCAT?  Couldn't Qorvis come up with something snappier?)--ran in conjunction with last week's conference held in Riyadh, and was intended to assure us that OFTS are doing all they possibly can to fight the "global crime" of terrorism.  Evidently, the conference was a smashing success--as the Saudi press reported on February 14--President Bush called Crown Prince Abdullah to congratulate him

Meanwhile...

The first to kill and use terrorism in the world were the Jews and America.  They began to act this way 200 years before us.  The blowing up of the buildings in Washington, opposite the Pentagon [sic], was an American terror attack.  There are world Zionist circles that want to create for us constitutions that are illegitimate.  But we won't accept the Zionist rule or that of the White House---which is, in fact, a Black House...

We ask Allah to strengthen the spirits of the jihad fighters in Iraq and to help them against their enemies the Jews and the Christians.

-- Saudi cleric Aed Al-Qarni speaking on Saudi TV, February 7.

(Steven Stalinsky, MEMRI)

And this, from the Center for Religious Freedom's absolutely essential report--already one of the most important documents on the War Against Islamofascism:

To be disassociated from the infidels is to hate them for their religion, to leave them, to never rely on them for support, not to admire them, to be on one's guard against them, never imitate them, and to always oppose them in every way according to Islamic law.

-- literature found by the Center for Religious Freedom's researchers at the the Saudi Arabian-supported Islamic Center of Washington, D.C.  (For a pdf-formatted version of this eye-opening report, go here; for an executive summary, here.)