Al-Qa'eda supporters win seats in local polls

[ECH1969]

Supporters of al-Qa'eda in Iraq have used the elections staged by the United States to gain positions of political power, the American military believes.

Al-Qa'eda was virulently opposed to the national elections held in Iraq last year, describing the votes in January and December as a "trick of Satan" and promising to kill anyone who voted. But the news that some of the organisation's supporters have gained seats at the local level illustrates both how it has adapted its tactics and the level of penetration it has achieved in Iraqi society.

Although the organisation, headed by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, originally consisted primarily of foreign fighters, it now has many Iraqi supporters, with one US official estimating that Iraqis have made up a majority of its active members since the middle of last year.

American intelligence has also learnt that not only are some of its supporters now politicians but that a number of its leaders have married into leading local tribes to secure alliances.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/23/walqa23.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/01/23/ixworld.html

[Journeyman]

1. Coalhouse. . .

al Qa'eda's become Coalhouse* -- pervasive, ubiquitous -- and the day will come when fear of Coalhouse will dominate thought in Iraq and throughout every land where Coalhouse is said to be. . . and true or not, that'll be the thought, and it'll influence character and action well beyond its (limited) reach. . . and it may one day be recognized for the illusion we created of our own fear but it's doubtful enough will possess the requisite self-knowledge. . .


*Coalhouse -- familiar to those who've read Ragtime

[ECH1969]

2. al-Qaeda in Iraq is only al-Qaeda in name

They have very little to no connection to Bin Laden and Zawhiri and don't take orders from them. Basically al-Qaeda in Iraq was another terrorist group "Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad" that changed its name in 2004.

[Journeyman]

3. All the more they've become "Coalhouse". . .

figments of fevered fear . . . an ubiquitous force that gains power from perceptions and uncontrolled imaginings. . . reality has no basis in the dark imago made by the popular will and all discussions of what the phantom truly is and what its relations may be (even to itself) miss the mark, for the mark is the small dark fear inside those who buy into the illusion. . .

Consider this article: the organization it postulates ("headed by. . .) and the membership it surmises (one unnamed soul says its been half something since a specific time last year, though prior to that it was something else -- as though there are membership rosters to run through), have no basis in any objective reality -- it's simply the wild speculation of people under attack -- no one is named, no specifics beyond place names given, and no evidence for the accusations is presented. It is merely people under attack trying to make sense of "Coalhouse" . . . trying to understand what they're partially creating out of the whole cloth of their fear.

I can't recommend Ragtime enough if you want a glimpse into the illusive world we're creating together.

[ECH1969]

6. I don't understand what you are talking about?

Most of the members of the group the western press calls al-Qaeda in Iraq consider themselves and still call themselves members of Tawid al-Jihad.

[Journeyman]

11. What I'm saying is, it doesn't matter *what* they call themselves. . .

or what their relations to each other are. . . the "Coalition" is creating the beast it needs, and all reality is being subverted to the needs of the "Coalition." Just as it doesn't matter what Karen Hughes and her propaganda arm tries to accomplish, the people in the Middle East will and have created their own perceptions of US/Coalition intents.

So the "reality" of what is happening on the ground has nothing to do with the perception which the Western powers and their press will present to the public. And that perception is one of a monolithic organization intent on the singular destruction of "everything we hold dear." You and I know this is bullshit, we see the nuances and hear the competing arguments, but we're waging an uphill struggle of reason against a downhill force of fear -- and the imaginations of the general populous will more easily permit them to see a monolithic "Coalhouse" terror group than the complex relations seen by the reality-based voices of reason.

In Ragtime, the terror group known as "Coalhouse" was comprised of one remarkably gifted man (Coalhouse Walker) and a motley assemblage of angry young men -- but the press created the ultimate "Boogeyman" out of what were essentially some well-placed, well-timed attacks that were of little consequence. Eventually, Coalhouse Walker asserted the dignity of his humanity and forced society to recognize his claims, but "Coalhouse" the group proved ephemeral. The analogy doesn't hold in its entirety, but I use it for the illustrative value of what fear can do to public perceptions.

[rodeodance]

14. Matrix comes to mind

[Demeter]

16. Excellent! Couldn't Be Better Explained

This is the problem when Bushevils believe their own propaganda: they think everything is propaganda, when some things are facts, and others are cultures, neither of which they can recognize, handle, or accept.

[pnorman]

13. No offence intended,

but I always double-check "startling" information --- whatever the provenance. I just Googled that name and got this:

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal Jihad
Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Arabic: جماعة ال&#توحيد والجهاد, Monotheism and Holy War Movement) is the Islamist guerrilla network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born Islamist militant believed operating against United States-led coalition forces in Iraq. The group's name, which is usually abbreviated as JTJ, purposefully contrasts the strict monotheism of Islam with the supposed "polytheism" of the Christian Trinity.

In October, 2004 the group changed its name to Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Origins

JTJ was started by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian and veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War, during the late 1990s at an Islamic militant training camp near Herat in Afghanistan. Zarqawi started the network originally with a focus on overthrowing the Jordanian government, which he considered made up of "hypocrites" and un-Islamic. Zarqawi comes from a school of militant Sunni Islamist and Wahhabi thought, which advocates a return to the laws and practices of the Muslim community immediately following the death of the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century. JTJ likely had loose affiliation with al-Qaeda, but is a separate organization that is to a degree competitive. Eventually, Zarqawi developed a large number of contacts and affiliates in several countries. His network may have been involved in the late 1999 plot to bomb the Millennium celebrations in the U.S and Jordan. Following the U.S-led invasion of Afghanistan, it is believed that Zarqawi moved westward into Iraq, where he may have received medical treatment in Baghdad for an injured leg. It is believed that he developed extensive ties in Iraq with Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish Islamist militant group that was based in the extreme northeast of the country. Following the U.S-led invasion of Iraq, JTJ was developed as an insurgent network composed of foreign fighters, remnants of Ansar al-Islam, and indigenous Sunni extremists to resist the coalition occupation forces and their Iraqi allies. The group's spiritual advisor is Abu Anas al-Shami.
>
>

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Jama'at_al-Tawhid_wal_Jihad

I probably check DU at least a dozen times daily, and I never fail to learn something new each time--- and SIGNIFICANT.

pnorman

[xchrom]

4. just the perfect example of how the war was the

wrong move.

the reactionary forces resisting the u.s invasion are adaptive -- and they are homegrown.

the anger fueled by the u.s. invasion won't subside now just because we leave -- the u.s by it's ham-handed approach has done a great job of creating lots of new enemies.

[rodeodance]

5. this is joke -right?

[ECH1969]

7. Nope

[rodeodance]

8. but don't we kill (or look up even suspected) al-quida persons?--this does

not make sense.

[rodeodance]

9. "senior officers based in Anbar province" uu.mm

.....According to senior officers based in Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold in western Iraq, al-Qa'eda-linked politicians have gained seats in local elections to provincial assemblies.

None would publicly accuse any politicians by name or comment on the number under suspicion, but they are convinced that al-Qa'eda influence is particularly prevalent in the border towns of Qaim and Hit.

[ECH1969]

10. You wouldn't get them to use their names publically with this

As they would be fired for helping to make the US project in Iraq look even more like a joke.

[enigma000]

17. Wimps. Real men don't run for office

Real men suicide bomb hospitals. So these al-Qa'eda-linked politicians are the kinder, gentler terrorists?

Are you sure he doesn't mean insurgents? That I can see.

[IndianaGreen]

12. So much for the "foreign" fighters lies

one US official estimating that Iraqis have made up a majority of its active members since the middle of last year.

Just like the "foreigners" that the US claimed it killed on a Predator strike in Pakistan. Our CIA boys can't tell these people apart because they "all look alike."

[rodeodance]

15. KICKYPOO