[Marxism] 2004 article on reasons for sympathy in Iraq for Al-Zarqawi

[Ralph Johansen <mdriscoll@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[popular Arabic proverb: "Me and my brother against my cousin; me and my
cousin against a stranger."]

>Salman al-Jamaili, a Baghdad University professor and Fallujah native who
tracks Sunni insurgent groups, told Knight-Ridder that the stepped-up
campaign of US airstrikes have only pushed Iraqis closer to a man who was
once persona non grata. Al Jamaili clarified, however, that as their homes
and towns are bombarded, Iraqis don't support Zarqawi himself, but rather,
the resistance he represents.<

Sympathy for Al-Zarqawi Grows Among Iraqis Amid US Airstrikes

Baghdad, October 6 (RHC) - Jordanian Islamic militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
is gaining support among Iraqis who are outraged over the trail of razed
neighborhoods and dead civilians left by the US military's anti-insurgent
offensives this month.

Knight-Ridder news agency filed a report from Baghdad Wednesday asserting
that the trademark black banner of al-Zarqawi's Monotheism and Jihad group
that typically hangs in the background of videos showing foreign hostages
in Iraq meeting grisly deaths at the hands of terrorists is popping up in
a Baghdad neighborhood known for daily shootouts between insurgents and
American forces.

Along Haifa Street in Baghdad, banners supporting al-Zarqawi appeared
after the corridor's worst showdown, when 13 residents were killed and
more than 50 wounded as a US helicopter fired on a crowd cheering at the
scene of a burning American armored vehicle last month. Locals had stuffed
the black banner in the vehicle's smoldering gun barrel. And in an
anti-American demonstration not long ago in the northwest city of Samarra,
which is now the object of a joint US-Iraqi military offensive,
demonstrators carried the al-Zarqawi group's flag in broad daylight
through public streets for the first time.

Knight-Ridder's Baghdad correspondent, Hannah Allam, reported that many
Iraqis explained the support for al-Zarqawi by citing a popular Arabic
proverb: "Me and my brother against my cousin; me and my cousin against a
stranger." In a crowded Baghdad square known as the Thieves' Market for
its array of stolen wares, vendors said they sold at least a hundred
Monotheism and Jihad hostage videos every day. Titles for sale this week
included "Soldiers of God" and "Zarqawi Slaughters an American."

Salman al-Jamaili, a Baghdad University professor and Fallujah native who
tracks Sunni insurgent groups, told Knight-Ridder that the stepped-up
campaign of US airstrikes have only pushed Iraqis closer to a man who was
once persona non grata. Al Jamaili clarified, however, that as their homes
and towns are bombarded, Iraqis don't support Zarqawi himself, but rather,
the resistance he represents.

In related news, the Pentagon said Tuesday that it was investigating
cockpit video footage that shows American pilots attacking and killing a
group of unarmed Iraqi civilians in Fallujah. The 30-second clip shows the
pilot targeting the group of people in a street in the city of Fallujah
and asking his mission controllers whether he should "take them out." He
is told to do so and, shortly afterwards, the footage shows a huge
explosion where the people were. A second voice can be heard on the clip
celebrating the accuracy of the attack.

The British news daily The Independent reported Wednesday that existence
of the video, taken last April inside the cockpit of a US F-16 fighter,
has been known for some time. But its broadcast Tuesday evening by the
UK's Channel 4 News is believed to be the first time a mainstream
broadcaster has shown the footage. At no point during the exchange between
the pilot and controllers does anyone ask whether the Iraqis are armed or
posing a threat.

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