Al-Qaida Is Helping to Keep Washington in Iraq!

There were a few hours during which numerous armed terrorist attacks occurred in a number of provinces and cities in Iraq last Monday. Al-Qaida in Mesopotamia announced its responsibility for 28 armed attacks against Shiite pilgrims. Al-Qaida security personnel carried out these attacks over the last few weeks.

The holy city of Karbala, as well as other cities, witnessed these terrorist operations, which targeted pilgrims heading to the shrine of Imam Hussein bin Ali (peace be upon him). The pilgrims were commemorating the birth of the Mahdi Imam which was fell on Aug. 15.

A number of the organization’s broadcast websites stated: “The operations were carried out by bombing two parked vehicles inside of Karbala after taking them past a security checkpoint and barrier. These operations are for the Safavid procession in what is known as the ‘August pilgrimage,’ which will then lead to the killing and wounding of one hundred people!”

In addition to the escalation of terrorist operations by al-Qaida and its explicit declaration of involvement in the killing of the pilgrims, al-Qaida has returned to using expressions and vocabulary of a sectarian nature. The announcement came in time for everyone to witness the confusing situation in the Iraqi political arena linked to the current political stalemate, as well as the depth of the differences and intersections between the parties. This is especially true between the leaders of the State of Law coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, and of the Iraqi National Accord, Ayad Allawi, on a number of issues. Most notable are the divisions between the National Council for Strategic Policy and the security ministries, and their linkage to controversy and ardent competition over the fate of American forces in Iraq at the end of the coming year. Some Iraqi politicians consider how their strategic interactions and the sharp politics between parties reflect negatively on real life and their service to the whole of the Iraqi people. But these politics and divisions contributed to more security degradation; moreover, they opened doors that prepared the necessary environment for American forces to become more permanent in the country. This was expressly recognized by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani when he blamed the political divisions for continued American occupation, regarding them as the reason behind the dangerous deterioration in security conditions.

Deputies and officials in the government speak, through eloquent yet vaguely coded language, about the current political climate, helping foreign troops remain in Iraq. Either directly or indirectly, they are providing an abundance of excuses and arguments for the foreign troops to stay.

Some insiders confirm the nature of the discussions and political dialogue occurring behind the scenes. Most officials refuse the idea of American forces staying after the end of the year in public but adopt different positions in private. They are striving to use this dangerous subject as a bargaining chip to achieve political gain at the expense of their competitors and opponents.

The political and informational centers of Iraq are going to several parties behind the recent terrorist operations, some internal and some external. Some of these parties even participate in the political process at times. All of this to prolong the foreign military presence in Iraq.

Perhaps the statements were made by the guest of the security council and parliament. Ammar Ta’ameh, you carried serious signs and indicators that reinforce why you went to these political and informational centers previously mentioned. Where Ta’ameh says, “that despite the receipt of intelligence information about the intentions of the terrorist groups, they carried out the bombing a week ago Monday. However, the security forces did not, in any event, take proactive measures against the terrorist groups to rob them of convenient planning and implementation.”

The representative continues, “the Iraqi National Coalition lacks the security forces necessary to to deal with that information in a serious and reassuring way. But the INC has been called on to address the long period of time that has passed since its last successful attempt at stopping terrorist operations while also assessing what happened in last Monday’s bombings.”

Besides, the security leaders in Wasit province, which was a province recently targeted in the terrorist attacks, confirmed that there are a number of sleeper cells in Wasit. He continues, “these sleeper cells are growing in number, are active from time to time and continue to incubate terrorism. Therefore, the province, in most cases, needs to stabilize the security situation and return its security units to normal duty against terrorist operations.”

At the same time, an official of the council for restoration in Diyala province (120 km east of Baghdad) indicates that Khalid al-Lahibi recently tried to restore an active al-Qaida sleeper cell in the province. This comes after the recent release of al-Qaida leaders from a number of security prisons, thus inviting criticism of the competent authorities who should have been able to end the phenomenon of corruption inside the security systems. They could have checked the detainees’ files before their release in order to prevent the release of anyone involved in the violence.

Perhaps the recent terrorist activities are meant to be a clear and understood response to the Iraqi prime minister and the general commander of the armed forces, Nouri al-Maliki. The saying goes that the security and military forces are able to maintain internal security but lack sufficient capacity to address outside aggression. Recent operations have clearly demonstrated major weaknesses in the level of performance and professionalism among the Iraqi troops and security services. These operations have encouraged officials who call for American forces to stay to talk boldly and openly about the importance of maintaining the largest number possible of U.S. troops in Iraq. They respond to their opponents, who want U.S. troops to leave, by saying that 20,000 U.S. troops must be kept for training purposes in order to maintain security in Iraq after 2011. Meanwhile, more than 170,000 soldiers failed to do anything before the giant wave of terror that hit the country in 2005 and 2006. On the contrary, U.S. forces have made things increasingly worse with the faulty ways and methods to which they have resorted most of the time.

It would have been very possible to contain the U.S. forces through the defiance of al-Qaida and other terrorist societies in Iraq years ago if they had actually wanted to. However, the organization has used, and continues to use double standards in dealing with the U.S. Today though, the escalation of al-Qaida operations in various Iraqi cities may not deviate from the context and methods intended to keep U.S. troops in Iraq. Additionally, they may be receiving help and contributions from regional Arab parties seeking to keep the American agent as a threat to other regional parties like Iran, at least on a basic level. Several weeks ago, some media reports circulated about the frantic movements of Saudi intelligence in Iraq in order to stir up sedition and exacerbate current conditions. According to the reports, “the dangerous instructions were addressed by Saudi intelligence and found on one of the terrorists. The Saudis directed some of these cells as well as their specialized assassination battalions, which expeditiously carry out heavy and brutal assassinations at an average of five to 10 a day. The goal of these assassinations is to undermine Sunni figures as well as politicians, leaders, scientists, professors, prominent social figures and tribal leaders. In addition, there was indiscriminate killing in the streets by means of slaughter and beheadings. These things were photographed with the intention of portraying these assassinations as retaliation by the Shiites in response to the heinous crimes at the Djail wedding.”

The report continues, “the instructions contained information that calls for direct action by these cells to penetrate, what they called, the Shiite militias. In addition, these cells are to be paied huge sums for the purpose of speeding up and directing some elements to strike the U.S. heavily and randomly at this stage. Their goal is to undermine the Americans and their innocent citizens to create an environment of dissatisfaction and panic, as well as to leave evidence that the weapon used was Iranian. They will also hit some sites in the cities of Anbar and Mosul heavily under the pretext of dealing with the Americans. These operations are established through video tapes that include slogans that suggest a Shiite leaning.”

The report adds that this “escalation coincides with the coming U.S. withdrawal of its benefits in order to justify the Americans staying longer. It also coincides with the movement by some of the leading parties in the Iraqi National Accord declaring the western region of Iraq federal provinces. This begins after first declaring al-Anbar province and after that merging Salahadin and Ninevah provinces.”

It appears that the Iraqi scene in the coming months will see further increases in security degradation, as well as political tension and conflict. These issues will not be solved by the year 2012 without changing facts and realities for the better and avoiding making things worse.