Paparock
06-06-2007, 03:04 PM
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/127007.html
BAGHDAD -- Under cover of darkness, a convoy of Bradley Fighting Vehicles and M1 tanks loaded with American soldiers pulled up to a mosque Monday night in the al Qaeda-infested neighborhood of Amariyah.
More than a dozen members of Islamic Army of Iraq, a key Sunni insurgent group, and some local residents waited for them, armed with AK-47 rifles and dressed in tracksuits and T-shirts.
But the two forces didn't clash. Instead, they shared information and supplies, in a growing push by Islamic Army of Iraq and their neighborhood backers to push al Qaeda's foreign fighters from the formerly wealthy district that includes Baghdad's airport.
'Honorable insurgency'
Capt. Andy Wilbraham, the commander of Delta Company of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, called the men the "honorable insurgency" and "the good bad guys." He said the Iraqis' decision to ally with the Americans, in the battle against al Qaeda at least, had given him hope that Baghdad's Sunni Muslims would follow the lead of tribal heads in Anbar province west of the capital and help the Americans drive out the terrorist group.
That won't necessarily mean they'll be long-term allies, however.
One of the men present, who called himself Abu Bilal, said privately that he remained committed to expelling the Americans from Iraq. But for now, the battle was against al Qaeda's fighters, who he said had turned his neighborhood into a dump for garbage and bodies.
"They oppressed the area," he said. "They are kidnapping the innocents, destroying the houses and dumping dead bodies in the garbage."
'Fighting ghosts'
Amariyah's problems with al Qaeda have come to a head in the past month as tribal leaders in Ramadi and Abu Ghraib to the west pushed the foreign fighters from their areas. The fleeing fighters came to Amariyah, which had long been where they treated their wounded and rested before returning to battle.
However, now they were heavily targeting American soldiers, said Maj. Chris Rogers, the second in command of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment. Homemade bombs killed 11 of the battalion's men in May; in the previous five months, only one man had died. The Americans couldn't seem to find the attackers. "It's like fighting ghosts," Wilbraham said. "I can't tell an Iraqi from an Iraqi."
The violence was also hard on residents. Last week, two were kidnapped and later killed. An imam called the battalion seeking help. "We are taking this into our own hands, and we are going to do something about it," Rogers recalled the imam saying.
Which is how Wilbraham and his men came to be at the mosque Monday.
Walking into the courtyard, Wilbraham asked for his contact. The man, who would be identified only by his nom de guerre, Abul Abd, appeared. With him was Abu Bilal. A boy clutched Abu Bilal's arm. His son. The sight of a child gave Wilbraham some relief. The Americans knew little about the men they were meeting.
No easy decision
The two groups sat in the dark courtyard. Wilbraham got out a map and shined a flashlight on it.
"Mark the houses you are going to," he said.
This wouldn't be an American-led operation. Abul Abd had been leading about 40 men since Thursday in the local fight against al Qaeda. Tonight, they would raid houses occupied by al Qaeda fighters.
Rogers said it wasn't a simple decision to help these men.
The Americans don't really know them. They're locals who call themselves freedom fighters, Rogers said. None has acknowledged his insurgent ties to the Americans, though out of earshot of the U.S. troops Abu Bilal admitted his role in the Islamic Army.
"Yes, I'm a leader of a cell in the Islamic Army," he said. Last week, al Qaeda raided his home and beat his wife.
"We are from here; they are from somewhere else," he said of al Qaeda.
"It is a measured risk we're taking," Rogers said. "It's time to take a measured risk in a place like Amariyah."
The jihad will continue
The night was eerie. Amariyah was once a beautiful upper-class neighborhood.
Now its villas are largely abandoned, piles of garbage cover the roadsides, and bushes are overgrown. Bomb craters pock the streets.
The American soldiers kept their distance.
"We don't want to accidentally shoot one of them," 1st Lt. David Virginia said.
By 3 a.m., the fighters signaled that they'd finished. They'd detained 15 men and turned them over to the Americans.
On Monday, the Islamic Army of Iraq issued an Internet statement justifying its Amariyah uprising against al Qaeda in Iraq.
It blamed the terror group's leaders for the suffering of Sunnis.
However, the group said it is still "anti-occupation."
"We will continue our jihad for the sake of Almighty God ... driving out the two occupations: The American and the Persian Iranians," the statement said.
ISLAMIC ARMY OF IRAQ
A leading Sunni insurgent group whose stated primary aim is the expulsion of foreign troops from Iraq. It consists of Iraqi nationalists, many of them thought to be former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, and those of his dissolved army and security services. The group has claimed responsibility for killing numerous U.S. soldiers, French journalists, Pakistani contractors and other foreigners. It has also been implicated in several beheadings. Unlike most Sunni insurgents, who focus exclusively on armed resistance, the Islamic Army of Iraq has adopted a more sophisticated strategy that includes negotiating with U.S. occupation authorities. While each side distrusts the other, al Qaeda's extremist ideology and its murder of Islamic Army of Iraq commanders have resulted in creation of an odd alliance of convenience between the Iraqi insurgents and the American military.
Source: Star-Telegram research
BAGHDAD -- Under cover of darkness, a convoy of Bradley Fighting Vehicles and M1 tanks loaded with American soldiers pulled up to a mosque Monday night in the al Qaeda-infested neighborhood of Amariyah.
More than a dozen members of Islamic Army of Iraq, a key Sunni insurgent group, and some local residents waited for them, armed with AK-47 rifles and dressed in tracksuits and T-shirts.
But the two forces didn't clash. Instead, they shared information and supplies, in a growing push by Islamic Army of Iraq and their neighborhood backers to push al Qaeda's foreign fighters from the formerly wealthy district that includes Baghdad's airport.
'Honorable insurgency'
Capt. Andy Wilbraham, the commander of Delta Company of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, called the men the "honorable insurgency" and "the good bad guys." He said the Iraqis' decision to ally with the Americans, in the battle against al Qaeda at least, had given him hope that Baghdad's Sunni Muslims would follow the lead of tribal heads in Anbar province west of the capital and help the Americans drive out the terrorist group.
That won't necessarily mean they'll be long-term allies, however.
One of the men present, who called himself Abu Bilal, said privately that he remained committed to expelling the Americans from Iraq. But for now, the battle was against al Qaeda's fighters, who he said had turned his neighborhood into a dump for garbage and bodies.
"They oppressed the area," he said. "They are kidnapping the innocents, destroying the houses and dumping dead bodies in the garbage."
'Fighting ghosts'
Amariyah's problems with al Qaeda have come to a head in the past month as tribal leaders in Ramadi and Abu Ghraib to the west pushed the foreign fighters from their areas. The fleeing fighters came to Amariyah, which had long been where they treated their wounded and rested before returning to battle.
However, now they were heavily targeting American soldiers, said Maj. Chris Rogers, the second in command of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment. Homemade bombs killed 11 of the battalion's men in May; in the previous five months, only one man had died. The Americans couldn't seem to find the attackers. "It's like fighting ghosts," Wilbraham said. "I can't tell an Iraqi from an Iraqi."
The violence was also hard on residents. Last week, two were kidnapped and later killed. An imam called the battalion seeking help. "We are taking this into our own hands, and we are going to do something about it," Rogers recalled the imam saying.
Which is how Wilbraham and his men came to be at the mosque Monday.
Walking into the courtyard, Wilbraham asked for his contact. The man, who would be identified only by his nom de guerre, Abul Abd, appeared. With him was Abu Bilal. A boy clutched Abu Bilal's arm. His son. The sight of a child gave Wilbraham some relief. The Americans knew little about the men they were meeting.
No easy decision
The two groups sat in the dark courtyard. Wilbraham got out a map and shined a flashlight on it.
"Mark the houses you are going to," he said.
This wouldn't be an American-led operation. Abul Abd had been leading about 40 men since Thursday in the local fight against al Qaeda. Tonight, they would raid houses occupied by al Qaeda fighters.
Rogers said it wasn't a simple decision to help these men.
The Americans don't really know them. They're locals who call themselves freedom fighters, Rogers said. None has acknowledged his insurgent ties to the Americans, though out of earshot of the U.S. troops Abu Bilal admitted his role in the Islamic Army.
"Yes, I'm a leader of a cell in the Islamic Army," he said. Last week, al Qaeda raided his home and beat his wife.
"We are from here; they are from somewhere else," he said of al Qaeda.
"It is a measured risk we're taking," Rogers said. "It's time to take a measured risk in a place like Amariyah."
The jihad will continue
The night was eerie. Amariyah was once a beautiful upper-class neighborhood.
Now its villas are largely abandoned, piles of garbage cover the roadsides, and bushes are overgrown. Bomb craters pock the streets.
The American soldiers kept their distance.
"We don't want to accidentally shoot one of them," 1st Lt. David Virginia said.
By 3 a.m., the fighters signaled that they'd finished. They'd detained 15 men and turned them over to the Americans.
On Monday, the Islamic Army of Iraq issued an Internet statement justifying its Amariyah uprising against al Qaeda in Iraq.
It blamed the terror group's leaders for the suffering of Sunnis.
However, the group said it is still "anti-occupation."
"We will continue our jihad for the sake of Almighty God ... driving out the two occupations: The American and the Persian Iranians," the statement said.
ISLAMIC ARMY OF IRAQ
A leading Sunni insurgent group whose stated primary aim is the expulsion of foreign troops from Iraq. It consists of Iraqi nationalists, many of them thought to be former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, and those of his dissolved army and security services. The group has claimed responsibility for killing numerous U.S. soldiers, French journalists, Pakistani contractors and other foreigners. It has also been implicated in several beheadings. Unlike most Sunni insurgents, who focus exclusively on armed resistance, the Islamic Army of Iraq has adopted a more sophisticated strategy that includes negotiating with U.S. occupation authorities. While each side distrusts the other, al Qaeda's extremist ideology and its murder of Islamic Army of Iraq commanders have resulted in creation of an odd alliance of convenience between the Iraqi insurgents and the American military.
Source: Star-Telegram research