APRIL-MAY2008
This post is a transcript of the
interview with Dr.I.Al-Shammari,(head of the Islamic Army
of Iraq/IAI) aired on Arabic, Al-Jazeerah TV on the 9th
of April 2008, an interview conducted by Ahmad Mansour.
And below is my translation.
Dr.I.Al-Shammari replies and comments are in Italics.
IAI is ONE faction of the Iraqi Resistance(IR).
I have tried regrouping his replies under headings to
simplify it for the reader.Please do remember that this a
transcript from hand written notes.
1) Words of Introduction by Al-Shammari – in
response to a question re.the surge and the IR.
Petraeus did not make any progress
in Iraq. This is nothing but another lie in the series of
lies started by Bush with his WMD’s. There is no
progress.
The Resistance has not changed its strategy which is the
end of the occupation. Petraeus alleged that the attacks
are down by 60% when 2007 was the year that witnessed the
highest rate of attacks.
The Resistance did change its tactics but not its
strategy. The Americans are desperate for some calm
before the November elections, but the Resistance will
decide when to implement an upsurge in its attacks
against the occupier, maybe during certain “crucial
moments” but this is up to the Resistance to decide
when and how. As I said, there is a change of tactics but
not of strategy.
2) What about the “drop” in the IR attacks ?
What looks like a current
“drop” is not a weakness. We are a
realist/pragmatic movement. There have been changes in
the Iraqi political scene, namely Al-Qaeda, the Sahwa and
the sectarian Shiite militias and we adapt accordingly.
There have been many attempt to “purify” the
Resistance by the occupiers and others...
So, no, we did not dissolve or dilute, either against
Al-Qaeda or the sectarian Shiite Militias.
In fact the Americans by backing the sectarian Shiite
militias wanted just that, to weaken us. Remember that we
are facing a dual occupation, we’ve said in the past
and we repeat it again, a dual occupation by the US and
Iran.
3) On Sectarianism.
a) You have been accused of Sunni Sectarianism, what do
you have to say to that?
The IR protected Shiites in many
areas from their own death squads. The IR has condemned
and condemns attacks on civilians, we do not blow up
markets filled with innocent lives. This is a propaganda
tactic by the occupier to discredit us. Suicide bombings
against Iraqi civilians, beheadings, car bombs and the
rest are all the work of the Occupation, the mercenaries,
the Mossad, the Iranian militias and its sectarian
squads. On many occasions, cars have been stopped at
checkpoints only to find out that during their search
they (US forces and militias) have planted bombs in them
without the car owner’s knowledge.
The IR does not do such things. We need the Iraqi people,
all of the Iraqi people, it is from them that we draw
force and support, how can we target them ? We are a
Resistance movement against the Occupation (both American
and Iranian) not against the Iraqi people. We need our
people. How can we kill our own people ?
The sectarian parties and militias
backed by Iran and the US started the sectarian and civil
war. We do not blame the Shias but the parties and the
militias who are totally bought by Iran and who managed
to co-opt some of the Iraqi Arab Shiites to their side. A
good number of Arab shias are aware of that, and a number
of Shia tribes in the South have spoken out against the
Iranian influence and we have contact with them and
encourage them. They reject these militias and the
Iranian influence. Leaders of these sectarian Shiite
parties and their religious representatives terrorize the
Shias, by calling them "Kafirs" (disbelievers)
if they don’t follow such and such party or
militia...
Our theological differences with
Shiism can be resolved through discussion, we are not
anti-Shiism. We are anti sectarian Shiite parties and
militias who are supported by Iran.
Our program is the liberation of ALL
Iraqis and Iraq from the Occupation. We are not here to
liberate Sunnis alone. Ours was never a Sunni program
alone. We do not follow such sectarian thinking.
Had Sunnis been sectarian, then historically, during the
Abbassid, Ummayad and Ottoman eras (eras of Sunni rule)
the Sunnis would have wiped out all other sects,
including the Shias, but that has evidently not been the
case. Our stand is for the Islamic Umma not for the Sunni
sect. We defend the whole of Iraq not just the Sunnis.
b) But the Resistance is nonetheless majority Sunni, and
stayed Sunni, has it not ?
The Iraqi Resistance is majority
Sunni by default. The U.S. is the one who brought the
sectarian Shiite parties and militias when it invaded and
occupied. And they were/are backed by Iran. The Marjaiya
(Shiite theological council) backed these parties and
militias. The U.S is the one who brought the division of
Iraq into sects and ethnicities. Arabs – Sunnis and
Shiites, and Kurds. The Americans in yet another lie,
said that Sunni represent only 20% of the Iraqi
population, when in fact the Arab Sunnis represented 43%
of the population and with the Kurds (who are majority
Sunni), they add up to 55% of the Iraqi population. Hence
their logic was/is, since Sunnis are such a minority,
they really don’t count much in the “democratic
process” being a negligible portion, hence
Federalism/Partition is a viable option. And in Iraq,
Federalism means Partition.
4) On Al-Qaeda and the Sahwa (Awakening Council)
Bush spoke of the Sunni intifada against Al-Qaeda through
the Sahwa. What is the influence/role of the Sahwa on the
Iraqi Resistance ?
There are s five types of Sahwa members.
- Some are paid allies of the
Americans (sell outs) and are working for them.
- Others have joined because they have been without
income and have been unemployed for many years and that
was one of the American tactics
- Others realized that Iran had a full grip over the
sectarian militias and that they posed the most immediate
threat after all the sectarian cleansing that took place.
- some are just financial opportunist
- some as a reaction to the works of Al-Qaeda.
But a good deal of those who joined
the Sahwa are realizing that their true interests lie
with the Resistance and many have backtracked and left
the Sahwa. And we are a pragmatic movement, and we
realize that the Sahwa is also due to the works of
Al-Qaeda. Moreover, the Sunnis have been targets for the
US forces, the AQ and the sectarian government and its
militias.
With Al-Qaeda, we’ve had
conflict and clashes. Their hidden strategy of targeting
our mosques, academics, markets, civilians, and ex-army
officers who fought against Iran in the Iran-Iraq war--
raised many questions and as to what their hidden agenda
is.
Furthermore their
“takfeeree”(accusing someone of being an
unbeliever) program for both Sunnis and Shiites was
unacceptable to us. They managed to cause a split within
the Sunnis and this makes us doubt their intentions. They
even targeted our own Resistance fighters. Our policy is
not to directly fight them but we will defend ourselves
against any of their attacks and we pray that they be
guided to the right path and cease their hostilities. The
latest Bin Laden message had in fact a negative impact.
Our differences with AQ are not political, but
IDEOLOGICAL.
5) On Muqtada Al-Sadr.
The latest events in Basra with the Mahdi resistance
fighters . Do you consider this Shia resistance rising
along the same path as your Resistance ? Are they anti
Maliki and anti-Occupation?
In the very beginning when Muqtada
Al-Sadr in 2004 in Nejaf, was fighting the occupation, we
welcomed him and encouraged him, until, the men (within
his army) who fought the occupation were liquidated one
by one and Muqtada and his men were co-opted by Iran...
We consider the Mahdi Army one of the worst militias,
responsible for a lot of the sectarian cleansing that
took place.
In fact, Muqtada and his men voted for Al-Maliki, and
have been engaged in the political process for over 5
years now, is it now that they remembered the occupation
and the resistance, after 5 years ?
Sadr’s conflict with Maliki and the Badr Brigades is
over the provincial elections and who controls the
resources (oil)
If Muqtada Al-Sadr wants to be part of the Resistance, he
needs to DESIST and stop displacing and exiling Iraqis,
he needs to stop burning mosques and engaging in
sectarian cleansing, which he has not stopped doing till
this day...
6) On Maliki's “government” and Iran.
We do not recognize this puppet
government issued from the occupation and we don’t
deal with it. The Maliki government is overtly
pro-American and covertly pro-Iran. Hence Ahmadinejad's
visit to Iraq was no surprise to us. We have said it
before and will repeat it, this is a dual occupation
(American-Iranian).
There is an imperial convergence of interests between
Iran and the US in Iraq and in Afghanistan. There is an
Iranian imperialist design under the American imperialist
design.
Iran opportunistically used its geographical proximity
and its religious influence over the Shiites of Iraq to
fulfill its imperialistic project – that of
occupying Iraq. Iran in 8 years of war did not manage to
secure anything in Iraq, but under the American banner it
managed to achieve what it could not achieve in 8 years
of bloody war.
The real victor in Iraq is Iran. Iran is after all a
neighbor.
- When the axis of Evil welcomes the Great Satan and
there has been 4 rounds of talks between the US and Iran
what does that mean ?
As I said, there is a convergence of
interests between the US and Iran, in their imperialist
designs in Iraq (and Afghanistan). Inside of Iraq, Iran
and the US are Muta’a partners (temporary marriage)
and outside of Iraq there is a cold war going on between
them. We don’t know how long this Muta’a
marriage will last in Iraq, maybe they will turn it into
an American civil marriage.
Iran has occupied Iraq and has helped the U.S occupation.
Iran’s interests in Iraq are not just strategic but
they also derive from greed. We all know the tactics of
"taqiya" (dissimulation)and Maliki is serving
both. It is in the interest of Iran not to have any form
of stability in Iraq. The US and Iran are only fighting
on who will get the bigger share of the cake.
- But Iran offered to pay 1 billion dollars for the
reconstruction of Baghdad.
We don’t need nor want
Iran’s money and contribution. We are against ALL
occupation. Iranian or American.
7) On the Arab Countries’ role
The Arabs by falling under the
American hegemony have allowed Iran’s influence to
extend to the Gulf. The Arab countries have left Iraq to
herself and forgot about their own Arab interests and
submitted to Americans interests instead.
The Iraqi Resistance has a 14 point political program and
its different factions even though may disagree on
tactics, agree on the overall strategy.
The IAI has already visited Egypt, and we are
establishing contacts with other Arab countries. I think
they are seriously considering the points we have raised
here...
8) On the future of the Occupation, Iraq and the US.
Iraq lives in a total daily chaos.
Those who died, died because of the American/Iranian
occupation. The occupation has created chaos –-
political, economic and social chaos. It has torn apart
the Iraqi social fabric.
The US is not serious about negotiating with the IR. We
are open to negotiations and a withdrawal of the US
troops.
But Bush is aiming for a definitive “victory”
in Iraq before his end of term.
After 5 years, Bush is still hoping for a total victory.
That is why he is pushing the Maliki government to sign a
long term bilateral treaty with Iraq which will ensure
both Federalism/Partition, oil, and a long term US
presence.
For us Victory means total Victory - the End of the
Occupation(s)
Posted by Layla Anwarhttp://arabwomannews.blogspot.com/