Sunday Times: Al-Qaeda (Zarqawi) leader plans an Iraq army

[sabra]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2158068,00.html

Al-Qaeda leader plans an Iraq army
Michael Smith

THE leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is attempting to set up his own mini-army and move away from individual suicide attacks to a more organised resistance movement, according to US intelligence sources.

Faced with a shortage of foreign fighters willing to undertake suicide missions, Zarqawi wants to turn his group into a more traditional force mounting co-ordinated guerrilla raids on coalition targets.

Al-Qaeda is sending training and planning experts to help to set up the force and infiltrate members into Iraq with the assistance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the sources said.

Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq’s national security adviser, said this weekend that the majority of American and British troops would have left by the end of next year. “By the middle of 2008 there will be no foreign soldiers in the country,” he predicted.

[ECH1969]

1. The Sunday Times?

Though, there has been more conventional attacks in Iraq in the past week then we have seen in a long time.

That said a more conventional war would be dirt stupid for the insurgents to do at this point. Over 100 fighters in Baquba couldn't dislodge even the Iraqi police.

[sabra]

2. Michael Smith broke Downing Street Memo n/t

[wordpix]

3. Iranian Revolutionary Guards: info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Revolutionary_Guards_Corps

Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (Persian: سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی - Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enghelab-e Islami), often shortened to Revolutionary Guards, or called by its Persian name Sepah (meaning army) or Pasdaran, is a military organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Sepah-e Pasdaran is separate from and parallel to the regular Iranian army, in a manner similar to the former German Schutzstaffel. They are well equipped with their own navy, air forces as well as ground troops. The force is also responsible for Iran's missile forces which the regular army has no control over.

Recent efforts have been made to create a joint command between the regular Army and the Revolutionary Guards but these have been limited in nature and have not had a dramatic impact.

It was formed in May, 1979, as a force loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, but later became a full military force along the army in the Iran-Iraq War.

The present Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi who was preceded by Mohsen Rezaee. Iran's current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a member of the Revolutionary Guard during the imposed war (the Iran-Iraq war).

[ECH1969]

4. I figured out where they got their source

It is the same one that leaked to the Army Times.
-----------------------------------------

The U.S. troops were preparing to leave when his vehicle came into view. He and his driver blew through a Delta roadblock before nearing a Ranger checkpoint. The Ranger M240B machine-gunner had Zarqawi in his sights and requested permission to fire, but the lieutenant in charge of the checkpoint did not give the OK because he did not have “positive ID” of the vehicle’s occupants, a TF 145 source said.

Zarqawi also hungers for more personnel. “Al-Qaida is trying to get some other people to him through Iran — some planners, some trainers,” the special ops source said. The Iranian government knows about this, and despite Zarqawi’s violence against fellow Shiites in Iraq, the Iranians have decided to allow the transit of al-Qaida personnel, the source said, calling it “a marriage of convenience.”

JSOC knew of insurgent training camps in both Syria and Iran that TF 145 could hit, the source said, but “politics” had kept the task force from launching cross-border missions. He said the trainers in the camps did not appear to be Syrian or Iranian military personnel, but members of affiliated groups like Hezbollah. He suspects that these activities were also occurring with the tacit approval of the host governments.

The U.S. knows of “high-tier” al-Qaida personnel in multiple European countries, he said. “They’re around the world ... The point is, does the U.S. have the resolve … to go conduct a unilateral operation to get these folks?” Asked if anyone in JSOC was doing this now, he said, “Not really.” Part of the reason: Special mission units are already stretched by the mission in Iraq. “There’s no one left,” he said.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1739387.php

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. "according to US intelligence sources" - well that clinches it!

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MUST be true then, right?

sorry,

after reading "according to US intelligence sources"

I lost interest.

wonder why