By Greg Palast: The Surge and the Al Qaeda Bunny

[whirlygigspin]

A special investigative report from inside Iraq
By Greg Palast 09/17/07 "ICH" -- -- Monday, September 17, 2007-



Did you see George all choked up? In his surreal TV talk on Thursday, he got all emotional over the killing by Al Qaeda of Sheik Abu Risha, the leader of the new Sunni alliance with the US against the insurgents in Anbar Province, Iraq. Bush shook Abu Risha's hand two weeks ago for the cameras. Bush can shake his hand again, but not the rest of him: Abu Risha was blown away just hours before Bush was to go on the air to praise his new friend.

Here's what you need to know that NPR won't tell you.

1. Sheik Abu Risha wasn't a sheik.
2. He wasn't killed by Al Qaeda.
3. The new alliance with former insurgents in Anbar is as fake as the sheik - and a murderous deceit.

How do I know this? You can see the film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naJQc6vFlFY - of "Sheik" Abu Risha, of the guys who likely whacked him and of their other victims. Just in case you think I've lost my mind and put my butt in insane danger to get this footage, don't worry. I was safe and dry in Budapest. It was my brilliant new cameraman, Rick Rowley, who went to Iraq to get the story on his own.Rick's "the future of TV news," says BBC. He's also completely out of control. Despite our pleas, Rick and his partner Dave Enders went to Anbar and filmed where no cameraman had dared tread.

Why was "sheik" Abu Risha so important? As the New York Times put it this morning, "Abu Risha had become a charismatic symbol of the security gains in Sunni areas that have become a cornerstone of American plans to keep large numbers of troops in Iraq though much of next year."
In other words, Abu Risha was the PR hook used to sell the "success" of the surge.
The sheik wasn't a sheik. He was a fake. While proclaiming to Rick that he was "the leader of all the Iraqi tribes," Abu lead no one. But for a reported sum in the millions in cash for so-called, "reconstruction contracts," Abu Risha was willing to say he was Napoleon and Julius Caesar and do the hand-shakie thing with Bush on camera. Notably, Rowley and his camera caught up with Abu Risha on his way to a "business trip" to Dubai, money laundering capital of the Middle East.
There are some real sheiks in Anbar, like Ali Hathem of the dominant Dulaimi tribe, who told Rick Abu Risha was a con man. Where was his tribe, this tribal leader? "The Americans like to create characters like Disney cartoon heros." Then Ali Hathem added, "Abu Risha is no longer welcome" in Anbar. "Not welcome" from a sheik in Anbar is roughly the same as a kiss on both cheeks from the capo di capi. Within days, when Abu Risha returned from Dubai to Dulaimi turf in Ramadi, Bush's hand-sheik was whacked.

On Thursday, Bush said Abu Risha was killed, "fighting Al Qaeda" - and the White House issued a statement that the sheik was "killed by al Qaeda."

Bullshit."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18412.htm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C223AE63-CE85-4887-9275-D2278C2A844C.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naJQc6vFlFY

[acmavm]

1. Didn't draw much attention the first time around...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=308308&mesg_id=308308

[Enthusiast]

2. I figured as much.

Up is down, down is up, rich is poor, poor is rich.....................

They lie when the truth fits better. And that is no lie.

[Felinity]

3. Doing better here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1827431

The last time I suggested OP writers to check for duplicates, I was castigated, so no comment.