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Al-Qaeda in Iraq

Encyclopedia : A : AL : ALQ : Al-Qaeda in Iraq

 

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal Jihad members with Shosei Koda and with the banner in the background
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Jama'at al-Tawhid wal Jihad members with Shosei Koda and with the banner in the background

Al-Qaeda in Iraq (Arabic: ‎, Al-Qaa`idatu fii bilaadi r-raafidayn, al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia), also known as Al-Qaeda in the Land of Two Rivers, is the Mujahideen network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born mujahid believed to have operated against United States-led coalition forces in Iraq. It was led by Zarqawi until he was killed during an American airstrike on June 7, 2006. Abu Hamza al-Muhajir was announced to be its new leader on June 12, 2006.

Before September 2004 the group was called Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Arabic: ‎, Monotheism and Holy War Movement) The group's name, which is usually abbreviated as JTJ, purposely contrasts the strict monotheism of Islam with what it sees as the polytheism of the Christian Trinity. The name change is significant as it uses the archaic name of Iraq used in the Islamic Caliphate era. Al Jazeera renders the group's current name as al-Qaeda in the Land of Two Rivers [link].

Contents

Origins

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi video screenshot.
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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi video screenshot.

JTJ was started by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, other Foreign Al-qaeda and local sympathizers, a Jordanian and veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, during the 1980s at an Islamic militant training camp near Herat in Afghanistan [[Citing sources citation needed]]. Zarqawi started the network originally with a focus on overthrowing the Jordanian government, which he considered to be un-Islamic and made up of "hypocrites". 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. After spending five years in a Jordanian prison for attempting to overthrow the government, Zarqawi later left the country. 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 US and Jordan. Following the US-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, but there is no evidence that deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein or the Iraqi government was involved in harboring Zarqawi or Ansar al-Islam. Following the U.S-led invasion of Iraq, JTJ was developed as a militant 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 was Abu Anas al-Shami.

Goals

The goals of Al-qaeda network have shifted considerably over the years. The organization gradually became more globalized and, following the fall of Baghdad to American forces, Iraq clearly became the main focus. The stated goals of JTJ are to force a withdrawal of U.S-led forces from Iraq, topple the Iraqi interim government and assassinate collaborators with the "occupation," marginalize the Shiite Muslim population and defeat its militias, and to subsequently establish a pure Sunni Islamic state. Presumably, if and when those goals are achieved, the global jihad would continue to establish a pan-Islamic state and remove Western influence from the Muslim world.

Tactics

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal Jihad members with Jack Hensley and with the banner in the background.
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Jama'at al-Tawhid wal Jihad members with Jack Hensley and with the banner in the background.

Same group, same banner this time with Eugene Armstrong in orange, seated, before his decapitation.
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Same group, same banner this time with Eugene Armstrong in orange, seated, before his decapitation.

Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'l Jihad members with Kim Sun-il giving Korea 24 hours to withdraw Korean troops out of Iraq .
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Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'l Jihad members with Kim Sun-il giving Korea 24 hours to withdraw Korean troops out of Iraq .

JTJ differs from other Iraqi insurgent groups considerably in its tactics. Rather than just using conventional weapons and guerilla tactics, it has relied heavily on using suicide bombings, mostly with vehicles, targeting a wide variety of groups but most especially Iraqi security forces and those facilitating the occupation. U.S and coalition forces, the United Nations, foreign civilians, humanitarian organizations, Shiite and Kurdish political and religious figures, Iraqi police and security forces, and Iraqi interim officials have also been targeted. Zarqawi's militants have been known to use a wide variety of other tactics, however, including targeted assassinations, kidnappings and beheadings, the planting of improvised explosive devices, mortar attacks, and beginning in a late June 2004 offensive urban guerilla-style attacks using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.

For months, it appeared as though two separate wars were being conducted in Iraq. One was a militant campaign, largely conducted by foreign jihadis, of high-profile suicide bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings. The other was a guerilla war being conducted by nationalists, indigenous Sunni Islamists, and disenfranchised former Ba'ath Party members against American troops. Recently, as Zarqawi's network has taken root and grown in Iraq and as the insurgents have become more radicalized and religiously motivated, the distinction between the two has reduced. The June 24 offensive, which combined guerrilla, and conventional tactics and in which a number of groups operating under the Zarqawi umbrella participated, was the clearest indication of this shift. Militants in this group also have been known to operate with other insurgents in Samarra, where they openly patrolled, enforcing Sharia law and distributing audiotapes of the Qur'an before a U.S-led offensive on the city in the beginning of October.

They cite various texts from the Qur'an and the Sunnah (traditions) of the prophet Muhammad to argue their case for their tactics. They cite the tradition of the prophet Muhammad where he said to the people of Makkah when conquering them, "By the one in whose hand the soul of Muhammad is in, i came to you with slaughter" narrated in the books of Hadith (traditions) including, Musnad Imam Ahmad, Saheeh Al Muslim and others. They also quote the tradition whereby the prophet Muhammad said, "Whoever slaughters a non-Muslim (at war with Islam e.g. enemy occupiers) sincerely for the sake of Allah, Allah will make hellfire prohibited upon him." as well as many verses of the Qur'an calling Muslims to fight (invading) non-muslims and even behead them, e.g. where Allah says in the Qur'an, "when you meet the non-muslim (enemies in battle) strike their necks."

Activities and list of attacks

2003

2004

2005

2006

Attacks outside of Iraq

Al Qaeda in Iraq is blamed for several attacks and attempted attacks outside of Iraq as well:

U.S. campaign against al-Qaeda forces

The American effort against Zarqawi's network remained largely stagnant due to a lack of credible intelligence. Protecting "soft targets" against bombings conducted by an elusive force is a nearly impossible task. In April 2004, U.S. Marines invaded Fallujah killing several hundred militiamen and civilian residents of the city before withdrawing. In late June 2004, U.S. forces began a campaign of missile strikes against suspected JTJ safehouses in Fallujah, a stronghold of insurgents and radical clerics and the supposed focus of Zarqawi's militant network. Between June 18 and June 25, over 60 people were killed in three separate air raids conducted by the U.S military in Fallujah. Civilians and officials in Fallujah charged that civilian targets were hit. Zarqawi himself was said to have narrowly escaped the June 25 attack, although there have been conflicting reports as to whether he was within Fallujah. Iraqi civilians, militiamen, policemen, and members of the Iraqi and U.S. military have suffered several hundred deaths and injuries in subsequent months during an escalating series of duels between anti-coalition militants employing car bombs and U.S. forces employing airstrikes. The Euphrates River region between Baghdad and Ramadi is the focus of the search for Zarqawi and his followers.

On October 15, 2004, the U.S. State Department announced its designation of JTJ as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224. [Press release].

On June 8, 2006 the Iraqi Prime Minister confirmed that Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was killed in a United States Air Force F-16 airstrike at 6:15 pm local time (1415 UTC) the previous evening, June 7. In a statement posted on the Internet that day, signed by Al-Qaeda in Iraq's "deputy emir," Abu Abdel-Rahman al-Iraqi, al-Qaeda in Iraq pledged to "increase [their] persistence in continuing holy war so that the word of God will be supreme." [link]

A [document] found in Zarqawi's safe house indicates that the terrorist group was trying to provoke the U.S. to attack Iran in order to reinvigorate the insurgency in Iraq and to weaken American forces in Iraq.[link] "The question remains, how to draw the Americans into fighting a war against Iran? It is not known whether American is serious in its animosity towards Iraq, because of the big support Iran is offering to America in its war in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Hence, it is necessary first to exaggerate the Iranian danger and to convince America and the west in general, of the real danger coming from Iran...". The document then outlines 6 ways to incite war between the two nations. Iraqi national security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said the document, shows al-Qaeda in Iraq is being hindered and hence, in "pretty bad shape." He added that "we believe that this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda in Iraq."

On June 12, 2006 al-Qaeda in Iraq announced the appointment of Abu Hamza al-Muhajir as the successor to al-Zarqawi.[link]

See also

References

 

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