Foreign militants behind Iraq attacks, officials say (Talibani)

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Answering Osama bin Laden's call for a holy war in Iraq, hundreds of followers from at least eight nations have entered the country and are playing a major role in attacking Western targets and Iraqi civilians, U.S. and Iraqi officials say.

Operatives of the al Qaeda network and affiliated extremist groups are collaborating with Saddam Hussein loyalists, officials say, forming an array of shadowy alliances that are emerging as one of the biggest challenges to U.S. efforts to bring stability to the war-torn country.

Some officials believe that Iraq is replacing Afghanistan as the worldwide center of Islamic jihad and becoming the prime locale for extremist Muslim fighters who are eager to confront Americans on Arab soil.

As many as 2,000 Islamic fighters from as far as Afghanistan, Algeria and Sudan are operating in Iraq, officials say. Ansar al Islam, an Iraqi group affiliated with al Qaeda and previously active in northern Iraq, also has made a comeback, officials say.

Although many of the foreign militants likely operate in small cells independent of any central command, others appear to have hooked up with Saddam loyalists who provide money, material and logistical support. In exchange, the foreigners provide suicide bombers and experience in guerrilla tactics.

(more)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/7221028.htm

[Scott Lee]

1. What's good for the goose...

Is good for the gander, so the saying goes. Washington with it's invasion has laid the ground rules for this stuff, so obviously it's ok if "foreign fighters" invade as well.

[Barrett808]

3. I wouldn't put much stock in what Talibani says

The US puppets on the IGC are playing some pretty subtle, comlpicated political games.

[Aidoneus]

2. Yes, foreign militants

heavily armed and dangerous militants from the Ukraine, Poland, Central America, Spain, Britain, US, etc..