Vanity: Former Iraqi Republican Guard to head Al Qaeda in Iraq

Several Sources | June 19, 2006 | Mark Eichenlaub

[Peach]

Saddam - al Qaeda connection. al Baghdadi is a man leading the insurgency in Iraq currently. He was a Republican Guard officer for Saddam, companion of Zarqawi since the start of the war AND HAS BEEN FRIENDS WITH BIN LADEN SINCE MEETING HIM IN AFGHANISTAN http://markeichenlaub.blogspot.com/2006/06/abu-abdullah-rashid-al-baghdadi-former.html

[Peach]

Freeper Ikez78 has sourced some important information here.

[Peach]

Ping

[Peach]

http://markeichenlaub.blogspot.com/2006/06/abu-abdullah-rashid-al-baghdadi-former.html

[sageb1]

Thanks for the info, Peach.

[Little Ray]

Ya know, if we'd made a point of KILLING the Iraqi army, esp. the Republican Guard, we might not have had this problem.

Same goes for hunting down the mid and upper ranks of teh Ba'athist party, putting them in shallow graves and seizing their assets.

[Peach]

I wish we could get this to Tony Snow and Karl Rove. If the administration would talk about this stuff, support for the war, our military and the Republican led effort to oust Saddam would increase tenfold.

[Peach]

A lot of the problem is they (Republican Guard) disappeared into the background as we marched into Baghdad; they knew they couldn't defeat our military and didn't fight.

Didn't you notice how easily we got into Baghdad?

[sageb1]

Just fyi, I heard Steve Ducey say a few minutes ago that they were going to have something (in this hour?) on why the translation of the prewar docs and the Saddam connection isn't getting the attention it deserves. I'm trying to watch, although I have workers in the house and can't pay close attention right now.

[Peach]

I just heard that too! Thanks for posting that, sage and if/when the report comes up, I'll try to post some comments here.

[Little Ray]

I think my point was that we shoulda been less worried about getting to Baghdad and more worried about killing off the Iraqi military. We shoulda done our best contain and encircle the Iraqis, then killed them instead of allowin them to get out of the way or surrender.

We also should have also sent teams to grabb the records of the Ba'athist party (and the occasional Ba'athist official) so we knew who to grab and shoot, and whose assets to seize.

Of course, this is 20/20 hindsight (but I did think this during the war!).
And its kinda hard to encircle an enemy army that is so much larger than your own. But we could have still killed a lot more of them.

[Peach]

You're probably right about that; I sometimes wonder if we were misled about just how much even the Iraqi military wished to be rid of Saddam and so we didn't foresee the insurgency.

[SE Mom]

Let's see if we can get the word out on this..

[Peach]

For anyone interested, this is a link to articles going back to the 90's when the mainstream media (including Newsweek and the NYT) were writing about the world's alarm at the growing relationship between Saddam and Osama bin Laden.

Of course, now they pretend that such a relationship didn't exist. LOL

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1327993/posts?page=212#212

[Peach]

Thanks for your help with this, SE Mom. It's truly appreciated.

[SE Mom]

There's a lot of info here for you to see..

[Peach]

Eyespy -

Could you, when you have time, please read the link/article and, if you think it's news worthy, use your ping list?

I think this is huge news.

[Peach]

I'd like to see Ken Mehlman send out a blast e-mail using some of these links and facts.

Ken can be contacted at:
Ken Mehlman@RNCchairman.org

Also, our Senate Intelligence Committee Chair may wish to hear about this.
http://roberts.senate.gov/e-mail_pat.html

[Little Ray]

No I think its more complicated (far more so than my simple mind can handle).

We overlooked how easy it is to pay folks over there to kill over folks (most of the IEDs are built for money...).

We overlooked the effects religious and tribal differences - we think of 'em as Muslims and Iraqis - they think of themselves as Sunnis, Shias, Tirkitis, etc., and are willing to kill over those differences. Or at least it makes it easier for 'em to kill.

We're unwilling to do the sort of slaughter that would stick in these people's minds and make 'em unwilling to cross the Coalition Forces under ANY circumstances.

We're unwillin' to do what it takes to secure their borders - we should be tryin' to kill ALL traffic that crosses the Iraqi borders without using a checkpoint. Even if its just "wedding guests."

Its a matter of not bein' bloody minded enough. But, in the end, it just delayed things. We're still winnin', and showin' restraint might pay big dividends in the future.

[Peach]

1994, also was the year in which Wahhabi clerics were added to the Iraqi government payroll Nir Rosen, Asia Times, 3-26-04

By the late 1990’s, religious Islamic studies were being taught at all levels of Iraq’s education system and Saddam Hussein was donating his blood to write portions of a Quran in one of Iraq’s most expensive mosques Jerrold M. Post and Amatzia Baram, "Saddam is Iraq: Iraq is Saddam", Ch.7, p.43-45

In 1999, it was common knowledge that Saddam Hussein had a standing offer of safe haven in Iraq open to Wahhabist Osama bin Laden. CNN, 2-13-99

CNN’s Mike Boettcher said that Saddam Hussein’s regime had been bringing Wahhabi fighters into Iraq from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere since 2000, CNN, 12-14-03 although
former CIA director James Woolsey said it began much earlier than that. David Neiwert, Salon, 9-21-01

Saad Fagih, a Saudi-dissident, echoed the comments of U.S. officials who told the AP that Saddam Hussein began inviting Saudi extremists into Iraq years before the 2003 invasion. Sscherezade Faramarzi, Associated Press, 6-1-05

In an interview with Mahan Abedin of the Jamestown Foundation, Iraq’s Ambassador the United Nations, Hamid al-Bayati, said “the Baathists invited foreign fighters into Iraq. This is an old and deep-rooted alliance”, when asked about how and when foreign fighters began entering the country. Mahan Abedin, Jamestown Foundation, 6-21-04

Links and back up found here:

http://markeichenlaub.blogspot.com/

[windchime]

Peach, here is the link to the Fox report mentioned. I think this material was in your post on the 14th.

Looks like FReepers heeded your request and sent the info out and Fox is apparently using it.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199757,00.html

and another related report:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199053,00.html