The Iraq War retrospective Thread

[kandrathe]

There are dozens of "small radical Islamist Kurdish sect(s)," all of whom have a common anti-PUK agenda with Saddam Hussein. What makes you think, other than that the NY Sun has put these two sentences side by side, that the one in the report is Ansar Al-Islam? And, even if so, "financial and moral support" is not the same as building bases and providing military supplies. A few thousand dinars and a pat on the back is a small price to pay for an enemy-of-your-enemy willing to do dirty work, but it is hardly evidence of an operational alliance.

I suspect that Iraqi intelligence offered some small quantity of money, and a general policy of live-and-let-kill-Kurds, so long as they focused their attention on their mutual enemy, while simultaneously trying to infiltrate their organization to help check the potential threat of Islamist insurrection. I suspect you would find the same pattern with most anti-Kurdish Nationalist terrorist groups.

-Jester

Interesting: The quantity usually mentioned in the reports for supporting various terrorist groups (didn't find the Kurdish Islamist reference in particular, do you have a page number?) was 20,000 dinars/yr. At the 1990's - early 2000s exchange rates, that would be anywhere from about $30,000 US to about five bucks, at rock bottom.

You should read the Section 1 of the report on the FAS site. The Iraqi ISS, Feydayeen and Force 999 activities were far beyond your limited vision of " Iraqi intelligence offered some small quantity of money, and a general policy of live-and-let-kill-Kurds". In Iraqi documents there is specific mention of sending the 10 best specially trained Force 999 commando's to London for special missions against Iraqi ex-patriots, British and American interests. The report, which is an analysis of actual Iraqi documents, reveals the full extent of the Saddam regimes links terrorist activities around the world. Now, Saddam was focused on Pan-Arabism, while Al Queda and other Jihadi groups are more Pan-Islamist. But, as is also outlined in the Section 1, that is like the difference between Cali and Medellín drug cartels. While the Iraqi regime was selfishly looking out for its own interests in establishing Iraq as the leader of Pan-Arabism, if their objectives overlapped with others they provided aid, training and support.