Travels with Abe, an Israeli's perspective: Yaman

Welcome back with another article from an Israeli friend, Abe. Abe is a guest contributor with history to tell. Perhaps you will begin to see an Israeli’s perspective of this world that we live in and what we are up against. Respectfully, Bosun

Yaman:

I first met Yaman when we were both in Basic Training. Yaman is a nickname that is automatically bestowed on all Yemenite Jews in Israel. He was slightly built, wiry and a fast runner, no matter how much weight you piled on him. He was dark skinned and black haired. He looked like the archetypical Yemenite. We immediately dubbed him “Yaman.” He kept the name, even after he explained, to anyone who would listen, that he wasn’t Yemenite. He was ethnically Indian. We didn’t care. To us he was Yaman.

Our basic training was that of Armoured Infantry. Back in 1967, the Armoured Infantry was transported mainly by half-tracks. We didn’t have APCs yet. After basic training, we tankers went on to tank training while the infantry guys went to their advanced training. Throughout basic, Yaman was my buddy. He could out-march and out-run anyone on base, and that included the corporals and sergeants who were training (abusing) us. On one march, when we were traversing a freshly plowed field during a rainstorm, my leg muscles cramped up badly. Every step we took, we raised these heavy clods of mud that stuck to our boots. The farmer sat in his tractor and laughed as we trudged through the mud. Keeping pace with us, he sipped lemonade and told us how tough his service had been, and how spoiled we were. I was barely able to walk; Yaman took my pack and rifle, and supported me for the next 5 km to the end of that day’s march. Back in our tent, he helped me lay down and brought a medic who wrapped up the legs and assured me that they’d be as good as new by morning.

When we finished Basic, I went to Tank Driver’s school and Yaman went to Advanced Infantry Training. We didn’t see each other for months. When, as a newly trained tank driver, I arrived in the Central Canal Sector, the first person I saw was Yaman. The Suez Canal Zone was divided into three sectors. The total length of the Canal was 160 km (100 miles). The Northern Sector started way up at the northern tip of the Canal and reached a point just south of Al Kantara. The city of Al Kantara was empty. The inhabitants had fled when our forces reached the city in the Six Day War. Driving a tank through a ghost city was eerie. You drove through streets that were empty. Houses were empty.

The Central Sector extended from just south of Kantara (where the Northern Sector ended), to just south of Doer Suwair. At its center, the outposts faced the City of Ismailiya, on the other side.   The Southern Sector went from there all the way to the Gulf of Suez. We would be stationed at the Canal itself for about three months. Another unit would relieve us. We would then move to a base in the center of the Sinai for three months. After three months of non-stop training, we would, once again, return to the Canal for a three-month stint. Each such stint was called a “line.” You did “lines” and “rears” your whole service.

This was my first “line,” and I was excited. A history buff, I had read a lot about the Suez Canal. I was excited to actually be there. This excitement, of course, faded somewhat after I had dodged some shells. Yaman and I lived in the same bunker. There were six of us living in this bunker. The bunker consisted of a dugout in the earth, covered by a steel arch with sandbags on it. The IDF Corp of Engineers was planning to upgrade the bunkers, but that was it in the meantime.

This first “line” was in the Central Sector, opposite the ghost-city of Ismailiya. The Egyptians had artillery aimed at us. We used tanks. This meant that they could fire from a greater range. We had to get closer (to, at least, a range of 4000 meters, or less). Israel didn’t have an Artillery Corp the size of the Egyptian one. Besides, we were trained to be mobile, and we were with the tanks.

Yaman and his infantry guarded the outpost and the tanks. He became a Squad Leader, and his men loved the “little Yemenite.” His protestations of being Indian and not Yemenite were to no avail. As far as we were concerned, he was “Yaman,” a Yemenite.

We cooked our own meals at the outpost, and every day, there would be a different tank crew in charge of the kitchen. Yaman had brought spices from home, and they were hidden in plastic bags among his “stuff.” Once in a while, he would shoulder us aside as we were cooking, and take over, with his spices. We would then be rewarded with an incredible curry or other Indian dish. We would laughingly call it “Yemenite Curry.”

Back then, we would get to go home about once in six weeks. At one of our Backgammon games, (Called Shesh-Besh in the ME, it’s a very popular game), I mentioned to Yaman that I’d be going home on leave the next week. He asked me to pick up some sunflower seeds for him. Eating sunflower seeds is an Israeli passion, and I also confess to the act. I went home. On the radio, (Israel didn’t yet have TV), the morning news would include the names of those killed the day before at the front (Egypt or Syria). I was sipping coffee, when I heard the announcer say, “Yitshaq Tzadiq!”

I couldn’t believe it. Yaman was dead. I hadn’t even been there. I had been relaxing at home while he was dying. I picked up some sunflower seeds, and headed back to the Canal. My holiday was over. Once back at the outpost, they told me how Yaman got caught up in a direct hit on the bunker. One of the steel beams comprising the arch of the bunker had been sent flying and skewered him. It happened very fast. He didn’t feel a thing. I laid the bag of sunflower seeds at the base of the arch, and went aside to mourn my friend.

Yaman was the first friend I lost in the Canal. I only wish he had been the last.

 

Technorati tags: Israel, rumors of war, yaman, yemenite, israeli self defense force, sdf, Kantara, Doer Suwairl, Ismailiya, Gulf of Suez, six day war

Travels with Abe, An Israeli's Perspective: The Technological Edge

Welcome back with another article from an Israeli friend, Abe. Abe is a guest contributor with history to tell. Perhaps you will begin to see an Israeli’s perspective of this world that we live in and what we are up against. Respectfully, Bosun

The Technological Edge:

Israel has a technological edge over its neighbours. Israel has ALWAYS had a technological edge over its neighbours. It’s one of the things that ensure its survival. There is one thing that needs to be understood by anyone before discussing what Israel can or can’t do; Israel is a technological giant. Anti-Israelis, (I’m loath to use the other anti-** word too loosely), have a tendency to equate Israel with third-world countries. They make the mistake of believing their own propaganda. Because they hate Israel, they downgrade it in their minds. “It’s not possible,” they say, “that a country so reviled (by us), could be so technologically advanced without importing this technology from the West.”

This reminds me of the Six Day War, back in 1967. Egypt, Syria and Jordan, (followed by anti-Israeli institutions world-wide), stated that the devastating air-attack that Israel carried out at the beginning of the war to destroy their air-forces, was actually done by the British and American air-forces. Anti-Israelis everywhere were only too happy to believe this. Bogged down in their denial of Israeli technological superiority, it gave some order to their explanation of Israel’s dramatic victory.

Israel’s technological edge goes back a long way. Jews have always been at the forefront of scientific advance. No need to mention the many Jewish scientists who, through the ages, helped the human march to what we have today. During the middle ages, when being a scientist in the Christian world was dangerous, and being a Jew was even more dangerous, Jewish scientists worked in Muslim states such as Egypt, where they were honoured and permitted to function. One of Judaism’s greatest sages, Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon, the Ramba’m), was also the personal physician to the Sultan, Saladin (Yusuf Ibn Ayoub, Salah-a-Din).
Jews continued to participate in the development of technology throughout history. When the Modern Zionist movement began to accelerate in the late 19th Century, Jewish scientists started paying attention. There were scientists who abandoned their posts in the West and “ascended” to the Holy Land. In the early 20th Century, Germans came by the thousands. They built the sister-cities of Netanya and Nahariya. There’s a story in Israel that’s so old, it has a beard as long as Israel’s Coastal Road. Back when Netanya was being built, a group of Bedouin camel drivers heard a loud “whooshing” sound in the sand dunes of the Sharon plain. It sounded like a waterfall. They cautiously climbed dune after dune, until they came to the Mediterranean coast, where they saw an astonishing site. The Jews were building a city in the sand. Bricks were being passed to the masons. As he passed a brick to a mason, a worker would say, “Bitte Schön, Herr Doktor,” to which the mason would reply, “Danke Schön, Herr Doktor.” That, multiplied by the hundreds, was the “whooshing” sound the Bedouin had heard. The “Herr Doktors” were PhDs in virtually every science of the time. They built cities, roads and farms, and created one of the soundest scientific communities in the world.

Israel has offered to share its technology with its neighbours a few times. Back in the early 20th Century, Kibbutzim would offer medical aid to nearby Arab villages. An average Kibbutz would have an infirmary. Many of them had a doctor and all had a nurse or two. The clinic was always open, at no cost, to local Arabs. Some took advantage of it, some didn’t.

When Peace was established between Israel and two of its neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, Israel immediately offered to share technology. Israel had a lot to offer in the field of agriculture (among others), but Egypt did not break any speed records agreeing. The trouble is an inferiority complex. Egypt feels that agreeing to accept this from Israel makes it lose face. There are now many projects in which the two countries co-operate, but Egypt doesn’t like to advertise them. Jordan is more open with these projects, as well as the combined projects being run with chemicals from the Dead Sea. The border runs right down the center of this salt lake.

In the town of Rehovot, just southeast of Tel-Aviv, stands the Weitzman Institute. Named for Israel’s first President, who was a physicist, it’s a modern research institute that provides data to like institutes all over the world. There is no field of science today that is not represented by Israeli scientists. Israeli schools have very high standards. Many Israelis study in overseas universities because they can’t pass the difficult entrance-exams to Israeli colleges. The bar is so high, that US corporation recruiters show up on Israeli campuses to “snatch” the graduates. Many end up in Silicon Valley. Israeli companies have to offer a lot to prevent a “brain-drain.”  

As a result, IAF pilots are well trained to operate today’s technologically advanced fighters (with an attitude). Israel’s navy runs complex systems in its array of weapons and the Merkava tank has electronic systems that rival those of the M1 Abrams. Israel’s technological edge is what keeps it alive (along with pure attitude-Hutzpa). Let no one make the mistake of thinking that Israel’s technology is a borrowed one. It’s very solidly based and is respected everywhere. Israel holds expositions every year to advertise agricultural technology including, but not limited to, desert irrigation and other techniques of growing produce and flowers in the region. Representatives come from all over the world to see the innovations and make orders. I’ve met reps from the Gulf States, and from other Arab countries that, officially, are at war with Israel, but know that they need the technology. Gaza earned $3 million dollars last year from the export of flowers, an industry, left behind by Israel, which survived the destruction of the hothouses.

The American Southwest uses Israel’s Drip-Irrigation system. Years ago, Israeli scientists discovered what amount of water each plant needed optimally. Depending on what you were growing, water would spurt out of a perforated pipe at certain intervals and in certain amounts. This greatly economizes on water, while keeping the plant well supplied. These upgraded, computerized systems are causing an agricultural revolution in areas that were traditionally considered to be “too dry to grow anything.”

Many Americans are not aware how many Israeli tools they use daily, from cell phones to computer software. Most of the software used today all over the world was developed in Israel. A United Middle East using Israeli technology and an Arab workforce would be an economic bloc that would be hard to beat. It’s my dream.

Nuclear power? Israel has nuclear plants. That much is common knowledge. What is going on there is not. Most of us believe that we have the bomb. International military think tanks say that Israel has nuclear armaments that number in the hundreds (depending on the source), and that it has a capability of delivery both by air and artillery. We (the public) tend to believe that but, apart from an occasional “blurt” by Israeli leaders, Israel neither denies nor admits it. This, neither denying nor admitting, works for us. It has a stronger effect than if we admitted it outright. Keeps them guessing. Will they, or won’t they? Do they, or don’t they? Can they, or can’t they? Personally, I don’t see Israel using nukes under just about any condition, but just not admitting or denying is, in itself, a deterrent.

Israelis are well aware that the technological edge helps Israel to survive. We are very proud of the high standards we have and are determined to maintain them in a world that is increasingly being “dumbed down.” If we succeed, we’ll keep the technological edge. If we don’t, our very existence is in peril.

 

Technorati tags: Israel, Technological edge, six day war, egypt, syria, jordan, anti-israeli, maimonides, sultan, saladin, netanya, nahariya, coastal road, mediterranian, kibbutz, arabs, kibbutzim, rehovot, tel-aviv, weitsman institute

Two Testimonies by Young Men Who Went to Wage Jihad in Iraq

Courtesy of MEMRI

Special Dispatch-Iraq/Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project December 7, 2007 No. 1780

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit this link: Two Testimonies by Young Men Who Went to Wage Jihad in Iraq

Two testimonies by young men who went to Iraq to wage jihad were published recently. In the first testimony, a young Saudi named Ahmad bin 'Abdallah Al-Shayi' said that he regretted his actions, and accused Al-Qaeda of exploiting young men by tempting them to join the organization and then sending them to carry out martyrdom operations. He warned all young men, and Muslims in general, to learn from his mistake, and not to join the jihad in Iraq or in other regions of conflict.

The second testimony was that of an individual calling himself "the noble mujahid Muhibb Al-Sunna Al-Iraqi." Unlike Al-Shayi', he described his experience in very positive terms, and praised the Al-Qaeda commanders, particularly the late Al-Qaeda in Iraq commander Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi.

The interview with Al-Shayi' was published in the Saudi government daily Al-Riyadh, on November 21, 2007, as part of recent Saudis efforts to prevent young men from participating in jihad in Iraq. The second testimony, published by the Rafidayn Center, was posted in French on the Islamist forum Minbar-SOS (hosted by Bravenet Web Services Inc. in Canada) on October 28, 2007,(1) and also on the Islamist forum Elshouraa (hosted by ZipServers Inc. in Oklahoma, USA), on November 21, 2007. (2)

The following are excerpts from the two testimonies.

Al-Shayi': Although I Couldn't Drive Heavy Vehicles, They Asked Me to Drive a Fuel Tanker to Baghdad – Without Telling Me It was a Truck Bomb

In the interview, titled "I Set Out to Seek Jihad – And They Turned Me into a Pawn for Killing Innocents... My Going There Was a Grave Mistake," Al-Shayi' recounted the unfolding of events from the time he left Saudi Arabia for Iraq via Syria to his injury while detonating a truck bomb in Baghdad, his arrest, and his extradition to Saudi Arabia, where he renounced his jihadist views.

"I left for Iraq in order to participate in the jihad, and to fight the occupiers – [at least] that was what I thought at the time. The commander of my group, Abu 'Abd Al-Rahman, asked me to deliver a fuel tanker to a particular place in the Al-Mansour residential neighborhood in Baghdad, and drew me a diagram of the spot. I told him that I didn't know how to drive a heavy vehicle, but he said that [it] was easy. In truth, this operation, which was the first mission I was asked to carry out since I entered Iraq, was highly suspect. Why were they asking me to deliver [a fuel tanker] when I didn't know how to drive a heavy vehicle – while [the commander] or any other Iraqi in the organization could deliver the tanker and knew the way? But I could not refuse to carry out the operation, for fear that they would kill me.

"[In general,] from the moment I entered Iraq I saw that they were acting suspiciously, and were not training me to use weapons [so that I could] participate in the fighting. But... I told myself, 'They pray and fast, they are jihad-fighting Muslims; they could not possibly kill me or harm me.' And I agreed [to carry out the mission].

"They asked me to deliver [the tanker] at 9:00 PM, and at the appointed hour we [got in] the tanker, which was very long, and drove off. After a while, the driver asked me to try and drive. I did, until I learned how to do it. After that, we got on the main road [to] Al-Mansour, where I was meant to hand over the tanker. A while later, they stopped the tanker, got out, and left in another vehicle. Left there alone, I considered running away, but where [would I go]? I didn't know anyone except them. I trusted in Allah, hoped for the best, and set out to carry out what they had asked of me...

"When I reached the street where I was meant to stop, the truck suddenly exploded. I saw the fire take hold, and it was a nightmare for me; I couldn't believe the horrible sight. Twelve people were killed in the explosion, and dozens of others were wounded – [all of them] innocent people. Later, I learned that this was one of a series of bombings aimed against the Jordanian Embassy, and that this kind of tanker could hold 25 tons of propane.

"After the explosion, I quickly jumped out of the window [of the tanker]... and fell to the ground. [I lay there] until an ambulance took me to the Al-Yarmouk University hospital, and from there to the Muhammad Baqr Al-Hakim hospital, based on the [forged] identity card given to me by the [Al-Qaeda] organization.

"Then Iraqi intelligence was informed of my whereabouts, and an Iraqi intelligence officer came and questioned me in the hospital. Later he took me to the Iraqi Interior Ministry... where I was interrogated by the minister's aide for intelligence affairs... The Iraqi government handed me over to the American forces, which sent me to the hospital at the Abu Ghraib prison, to have my burns and wounds treated. I spent six months there, and received treatment like all the other prisoners.

"Before my extradition to Saudi Arabia, three officers from the Saudi Interior Ministry came, and met with the Saudi prisoners, including me... About a month after that, the American investigator told me that they were going to extradite me to Saudi Arabia, and indeed, a week later, I was extradited to Saudi Arabia on a special plane. When I reached the Riyadh air force base, before we went into the arrivals hall, one of the senior Interior Ministry officers told me, 'Your family is here to welcome you,' and my joy was multiplied."

It All Began When a Friend Gave Me Videocassettes of Jihad Movies and Talked Me into Going with Him to Iraq

"It all began when an old friend of mine, whom I had not seen for years, met with me a few times, and then began to talk about jihad, to tell me hadiths, [and to quote] Koran verses backing up his statements. He also gave me numerous videocassettes that included jihad movies, and the one that stood out most and affected me the most was the one telling the story of the jihad [carried out by] Khattab(3) in Afghanistan and Chechnya...

"After that, he told me that he knew a way to get to Iraq, and that he himself was about to go. He asked whether I wanted to accompany him, and I said yes. I misled my family [into thinking] that I was going abroad, and didn't tell them of my [true] intentions, because I knew that they would be against it. [My friend] once brought [me] a fatwa... that sanctioned going out to wage jihad without the permission of parents or of the ruler, and pointed out that 26 sheikhs and scholars had signed it.(4) [This fatwa] strengthened my resolve. This was during the last third of the month of Ramadan 1425 [November 2004]."

They Asked Me If I Knew that Once I Entered Iraq There Was No Coming Back – Because We Swear an Oath of Allegiance to Death

"About a week later, we left Buraidah together to go to Riyadh, and from there to Syria. In Damascus, my friends introduced me to a coordinator, a Saudi called Abu Abdallah, and he took me to the organization's commander in Aleppo, who was called Mazen... [Mazen] asked me if I knew that once I entered Iraq there was no coming back, because we swear an oath of allegiance to death there... He took me to a crowded hotel for two days, where I met two Saudis and two Moroccans. Then he took me to another hotel, in the suburbs of Aleppo, where I met [some other] Saudis and Moroccans, and where I stayed until after Eid Al-Fitr.

"After that, Mazen asked me to go to the city of Al-Raqa on our way to Iraq, to meet another coordinator [there]. I went there together with another man, a Moroccan, after Mazen provided us with two forged identity cards, one Syrian, the other Iraqi. When we got to Al-Raqa... the coordinator was waiting for us, and when we reached the designated place, a man dressed like a Syrian Bedouin arrived... I learned later that he was a Saudi called Abu Saleh...

"Then we went to a hotel, where I met the friend who had left [Saudi Arabia] with me... I stayed one night at this hotel, and then Abu Saleh asked me and the three Saudis who were with me, one of whom was my friend, to go to the city of Deir Al-Zor to meet the final coordinator [before going to meet] the smuggler [who would get us into Iraq]. [The coordinator] appointed one of us commander [of our group]..."

The Commander of the Arabs in Al-Qaeda Greeted Us and Asked If We Wanted to Become Martyrs

"[In Deir Al-Zor, the final coordinator] handed us over to the smuggler, together with eight more young men of various Arab nationalities – Moroccan, Syrian, Jordanian, Gulf, and Yemeni... We departed in a minibus from Deir Al-Zor to Abu Kamal on the Iraqi border. Before [turning off on] the road to Abu Kamal, the vehicle stopped behind a truck carrying goods to Abu Kamal, and we were asked to get into its front part. When we'd gone about five kilometers, the truck stopped, and 12 more people of various [Arab] nationalities joined us. After another distance, the truck stopped [again], and seven more, all Syrians, joined us. [By now] there were 31 people in the truck...

"When we got to Abu Kamal, they let us off at a farm on the banks of the Euphrates River. Then a boat came, and it began to take us, in groups of seven each time, to an island in the middle of the river, and from there to the other bank. This, they explained, was because there was a checkpoint on the bridge over the river.

"It was 11:00 PM. After crossing the river, the minibus came and took us to the home of the smuggler, which was right on the border. After a short rest, the smuggler took a submachine gun and night-vision binoculars, and we set out for the border, without the seven Syrians...

"When the Iraqis who were meant to take us from the smuggler arrived... the smuggler went back [to Syria], and the Iraqis, who were young, took us and bid us to move quickly [so as to reach our destination] before dawn, and so as not to be discovered.

"We kept running until we came to Iraq, entering via the city of Al-Qaim. The first to greet us was the commander of the Arabs in Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who was a Moroccan called Abu Assil. He asked if we wanted to be istishhadiyun [that is, to carry out martyrdom operations]... Nobody raised his hand. Then [the commander] began to praise istishhad and its benefits, but not one of us changed his mind. Then he took the money that he had and gave each of us $100, took our passports, and took us to the Rawa region of the Al-Anbar district, where at a hotel... 40 Arabs were staying. Together with them, we waited to receive training."

In Five Weeks, I Never Received Any Training

"After staying at the hotel for a week, the commander of the Rawa [region] in the Al-Qaeda organization, called Abu 'Ubaida Al-Ansari, asked me and another Saudi to go to the city of Al-Ramadi, and said there were training camps there. I stayed [at these training camps] for a month, and never received any training... When I complained to the Al-Anbar commander, who was called Abu Osama about not receiving training, and said that we had come to participate in the war, he said that they would take us to Baghdad.

"The next day, they took us [to Baghdad]. At that time, I and another Saudi were greeted by an Iraqi called Abu 'Omar Al-Kurdi, who I later learned was the [operations] commander of Al-Qaeda... Abu 'Omar Al-Kurdi told me that my group commander was Abu 'Abd Al-Rahman. Then he left, and I stayed with the new group – nine men, all of them Iraqis... [The Iraqis] were not pleased at [Saudi] participation [in the war against the Americans]... because [they] consider this to be interference in their internal affairs..."

Fatwas, Islamist Websites, and Jihad Books and Videos Inflame Young People to Go Wage Jihad

"I think that several factors [influence young Saudis to go to wage jihad] – some of them directly, and some indirectly, such as fatwas... websites, and web forums. Many of the websites are spreading poison in the name of Islam, which Islam [itself] renounces, and are saturated with takfir [accusing other Muslims of heresy] and extremism...

"Another factor is the books, cassettes, songs, and films. As I said, there are cassettes and books that include hair-raising atrocities, and these, unfortunately, can be found in libraries... I think that on a short visit to the Islamic libraries one can find songs of incitement and books that inflame the spirit of young people, [and] that include all the forbidden things. I think that letting these materials onto the shelves and into the shops is [an act of] negligence, and I expect the education and information ministries to give their opinion on this matter... because all these things inflame the young people and ignite the fire of war in their hearts...

"I call on young people particularly, and Muslims in general, to learn from my mistakes, and not to be tempted to go to Iraq or to other regions of conflict."

Muhibb Al-Sunna Al-Iraqi: "My Beloved Brother Abu Muhammad... Asked Me to Help Him with an Operation... I Could Not Turn Him Down, For I Craved [Allah's] Reward..."

Al-Iraqi's testimony, titled "One Day in My Life, and the Truth about a Commander," recounts how he went on a jihadist operation in Baghdad, and met Al-Qaeda operatives, including Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi.

"...I have learned, when it comes to matters of jihad and mujahideen, to keep what I have seen and heard to myself, in two senses [of the term]: keep it so as to forget it, and keep it so as not to tell anyone. This is what a mujahid taught me... But today, I will bring back to life one of the things I have buried...

"About three and a half years ago, I was in a phase of transition in terms of ideology and religious approach, and the love of the Sunna was beginning to fill my heart... My close, beloved brother Abu Muhammad – may Allah accept him among the martyrs – asked me to help him with an operation he was preparing in the Baghdad area. I could not turn him down, for I craved [Allah's] reward and compensation. 'For these, let those who want to fight, fight.'

"Abu Muhammad... asked me and [another] brother..., Abu Zaynab – may Allah have mercy upon him whether he is dead or alive – to accompany him to the Baghdad area with the items necessary for the operation. We drove in two cars, my brother Abu Muhammad in one car, Abu Zaynab and me in the other. My meeting with him for this operation was our first and last one...

"After a short time, we arrived at the designated spot, and brother Abu Zaynab asked to enter the house where the necessary items were kept, and to fetch them by himself, while we were to wait for him nearby... This neighborhood had been set on fire that very day, following the murder of a renowned mosque imam at the hands of the Ghadr (Badr) militia,(5) and there were reports of another operation near the district.

"Just a few seconds later, a group of cars full of masked men wearing ashamigh [kaffiyehs] surrounded us on all sides. They all had guns or Kalashnikovs!..."

"He Who Puts His Trust in Allah... Knows for Sure that the Primary Goal is the [Establishment of the] Islamic State"

"I put my fate in Allah's [hands]. They seized me and my brother Abu Muhammad and blindfolded us. I sensed that they were handling Abu Muhammad roughly. Then they drove me to a fairly remote place, and [put me in] a room. There, I asked my brother Abu Muhammad: 'Who are these people?' He said, 'I don't know'... It was very difficult for me, since this was the first time I had [ever] been imprisoned... [But] he who puts his trust in Allah and his fate into Allah's hands, and remains patient throughout the trial, knows for sure that the primary goal is the [establishment of the] Islamic state... And if the moment of death is brought closer by Allah, the reward (for the Hijrah) is certain...

"A few seconds later, a man whose face was covered with a kaffiyeh came in and untied us, and began questioning us... I heard that they were mujahideen and my heart was appeased... At that moment, Abu Zaynab appeared, exhausted from running. His eyes were full of tears, and when he saw us he did the takbir [i.e. greeted us with 'Allah Akbar'], and then embraced us and the man asking questions...

"Later... I went with Abu Zaynab to the house nearby where we had waited so long... We entered the house and greeted the brothers, who apologized for what had happened... I asked a brother for a place to pray. While I was praying, I heard someone give the salaam. I finished praying, and to my right I saw a man – yes, by Allah, a man at a time when [true] men are rare – and felt as though I knew him... So I greeted him and his companions, and began relating what had happened, and praising Allah. I kept looking at that man and he kept smiling at me.

"Then he went to talk with the old man who owned the house. According to what I heard, he was a muhajir (emigrant)... Yes, by Allah, he was talking of ways to improve the condition of the Sunnis, with the help of the renowned and ancient tribal [authorities]. And he seemed... to be worried [that the Sunnis] would face a dark fate if the Crusaders and the Rafidha [i.e., the Shi'ites] came to rule over them, and if the renowned and ancient [authorities] and the tribal sheikhs and their families stopped elevating themselves [to the rank of] the Sunnis, [and stopped] managing the general affairs of the Sunnis and preventing any Tom, Dick or Harry from ruling over them...

"The muhajir advised me to be patient, and reminded me that the way [of the mujahideen] is one of trials and suffering... These few words from the muhajir... were enough to recognize the minhaj [way] of the Al-Qaeda brothers – their patience, tolerance, and their disdain for all differences [between people]...

"A few minutes later, a young man who resided in the house informed the old man [i.e. the owner of the house] that the worshippers of the Cross had entered the area. So the old man told the muhajir: 'This place is no [longer] safe for you.' The muhajir rose with his companions, gave us the salaam, his smile never leaving his face as he looked at me. Then he left the house.

"Later, my brother Abu Muhammad, may Allah accept him, arrived and we took [the items] we had come to fetch..."

"I Have Never Met Any Purer Soul, Softer Heart, or Humbler People than... the Al-Qaeda Soldiers"

"This smiling man, this muhajir whom I met, who smiled when setting his eyes on me... was the Amir of the Martyrs, the Imam, the Muhajir, Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi, may Allah accept him in the uttermost [places of] Paradise...

"I believe that, thanks to its [excellent] Amirs and ministers..., the leaders of the Islamic State of Iraq, may Allah secure its pillars, are able to avoid fitna [civil strife]... I was never, not even for one day, a member of Al-Qaeda or [Jama'at] Al-Tawhid Wal Jihad.(6) Rather, we worked to help the mujahideen in general.

"Oh Allah, You bear witness that I have never met any purer soul, softer heart, or humbler people than the People of the Tawhid, the Al-Qaeda soldiers – [nor have I met people] tougher in their power, strength, and hatred for the idolaters than the Al-Qaeda soldiers. As Allah is my witness... The group with whom I carried out the operation was not Al-Qaeda or Al-Tawhid Wal Jihad. It was another group known in the area.

"Oh Allah, accept your servant, the mujahid on Your path, Abu Mus'ab, among the martyrs.

"And accept my beloved brother Abu Muhammad, and all those killed from among the mujahideen...

"Oh Allah, protect the Islamic State [of Iraq], Oh Allah, protect the Islamic State...

"May the peace and mercy of Allah be upon you.

"[Signed] your brother Muhibb Al-Sunnah Al-Iraqi,

"Rabi' Al-Thani 1428,

"Al-Rafidayn Center Publications."

Endnotes:

(1) http://www.minbar-sos.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=14; ISP verified November 29, 2007.

(2) http://elshouraa.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14611; ISP verified November 27, 2007.

(3) Al-Khattab, or Ibn Al-Khattab, are aliases of Samer Al-Sweilem, a Saudi who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan and then commanded the Arab jihad fighters in Chechnya until his death by poisoning in 2002.

(4) For more on the fatwa signed by 26 Saudi sheikhs, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 896, "Reactions and Counter-Reactions to the Saudi Clerics' Communiqué Calling for Jihad in Iraq," April 21, 2005, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP89605 .

(5) The word ghadr ("traitor") is used here as an epithet for the Badr Forces – the military arm of the Iraqi party SCIRI (Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq), headed by 'Abd Al-'Aziz Al-Hakim, which is supported by Iran.

(6) Jama'at Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad (the Group of Monotheism and Jihad) was the name of Al-Zarqawi's organization before it joined forces with Al-Qaeda and took on the name Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

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