The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
Al Qaeda Declares What It Really Wants in Iraq
by James Dunnigan
January 26, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
Two weeks before the 2005 Iraqi elections, al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al
Zarqawi released an audio tape on the Internet, where he bluntly stated that,
"We have declared a bitter war against the principle of democracy and all those
who seek to enact it." He made it clear that anyone who voted on January 30th
would be seen as an infidel (non-Moslem). Since the senior Shia Arab clergy have
been very eager to have elections, this puts al Qaeda very publicly into
opposition with Shia Islam, the form of Islam practiced by sixty percent of
Iraqis. The Kurds also want elections, and have been holding them for a decade.
Al Qaeda does not like Kurds either, even though they are Sunni Moslems. That's
because the Kurds have long been eager for elections, and they aren't Arabs. The
Kurds are descended from the Indo-Aryan tribes that moved off the steppes
thousands of years ago and settled northern India, Europe, Iran and other bits
of disputed territory. The Kurds have long occupied disputed territory, unable
to establish their own independent country. The Turks and Arabs have a hostile
relationship with the Kurds that goes back centuries. But when it comes to
democracy, the Kurds and the Shia Arabs agree with one another.
Al Zarqawi calls the upcoming elections a "plot" to put the Shia Arabs in
power. This is a strange, and revealing, statement. Since Shia Arabs are sixty
percent of the Iraqi population, an election would, of course, put them in
power. Al Zarqawi's comment was directed at his fellow Sunni Arabs, who have
long run Iraq, even though they are a minority there. Al Zarqawi is making it
clear that he, and al Qaeda, are champions of Sunni Arab supremacy, in the
Middle East and elsewhere.
It's taken a while, but the mass media outside Iraq have finally noticed that
the majority of Iraqis want to vote, will vote and that the anti-government
forces are not in a position to stop the vote. A country of 26 million is being
threatened internally by several thousand active terrorists. These thugs launch
100-200 attacks a day, most of them nothing more than a few dozen bullets
sprayed at police or American troops. In the last month, al Qaeda has detonated
more bombs in Iraq than American warplanes have dropped. But these efforts are a
distant event for over 90 percent of Iraqis. There are simply not enough Sunni
Arabs, willing to take up arms, to dominate the majority of Iraqis. The Shia
Arabs and Kurds have guns too, and use them when threatened. As a result, Al
Zarqawi and his Baath Party allies are directing most of their efforts at Sunni
Arabs who want to vote. The terrorists have done the math and concluded that
they cannot stop a majority of Iraqis from voting. It's not just a matter of
numbers, but of determination. It's been largely ignored how determined the
majority of Iraqis are to vote, and how small and vile are the groups that are
trying to stop the elections. The anti-democratic forces represent Sunni
theocracy and Baath Party dictatorship. The majority of Iraqis want none of
this, and are openly telling anyone who will listen that they are not going to
run for cover on election day.
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