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The new Iraq-bin Laden
connection
By B Raman
On
February 11, al-Jazeera TV station broadcast a special
message to the Iraqi people purported to have been from
Osama bin Laden. The message, which coincided with the
end of the holy fasting period of Ramadan, sought to
boost the morale of the Iraqi people and guide them as
to how they should face the coming American invasion of
their country, and defeat the enemy.
In an
attempt to convince the Iraqis that the US is not
invincible, bin Laden explained how he and his
followers, numbering only about 300, frustrated the
American action against them at Tora Bora in
Afghanistan. He stressed the importance of the Iraqi
people fighting in a united manner against the
Americans, irrespective of whether they were Arabs or
non-Arabs (Kurds), Sunnis or Shi'ites. He said that the
American strategy would be focused on psychological
warfare (psywar) and aerial action and assured the
Iraqis that they should be able to defeat them if they
adopted the right strategy and tactics.
He
explained the right strategy as follows: "We are
following with great interest and extreme concern the
crusaders' preparations for war to occupy a former
capital of Islam, loot Muslims' wealth, and install an
agent government, which would be a satellite for its
masters in Washington and Tel Aviv, just like all the
other treasonous and agent Arab governments.
"We
realized from our defense and fighting against the
American enemy that, in combat, they mainly depend on
psychological warfare. This is in light of the huge
media machine they have. They also depend on massive air
strikes so as to conceal their most prominent point of
weakness, which is the fear, cowardliness, and the
absence of combat spirit among US soldiers. We also
realized that one of the most effective and available
methods of rendering the air force of the crusader enemy
ineffective is by setting up roofed and disguised
trenches in large numbers.
"I had referred to
that in a previous statement during the Tora Bora battle
last year.We were about 300 mujahideen. We dug 100
trenches that were spread in an area that does not
exceed one square mile, one trench for every three
brothers, so as to avoid the huge human losses resulting
from the bombardment. Since the first hour of the US
campaign on Rajab 20, 1422, corresponding to October 7,
2001, our centers were exposed to a concentrated
bombardment. And this bombardment continued until
mid-Ramadan. On Ramadan 17 [November 22], a very fierce
bombardment began, particularly after the US command was
certain that some of al-Qaeda leaders were still in Tora
Bora, including the humble servant to God [referring to
himself] and the brother mujahid Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The bombardment was round-the-clock and the warplanes
continued to fly over us day and night.
"The US
Pentagon, together with its allies, worked full time on
blowing up and destroying this small spot, as well as on
removing it entirely. Planes poured their lava on us,
particularly after accomplishing their main missions in
Afghanistan. The US forces attacked us with smart bombs,
bombs that weigh thousands of pounds, cluster bombs, and
bunker busters. Bombers, like the B-52, used to fly over
head for more than two hours and drop between 20 to 30
bombs at a time.The modified C-130 aircraft kept
carpet-bombing us at night, using modern types of bombs.
The US forces dared not break into our positions,
despite the unprecedented massive bombing and terrible
propaganda targeting this completely besieged small
area. This is in addition to the forces of hypocrites,
whom they prodded to fight us for 15 days non-stop.
Every time the latter attacked us, we forced them out of
our area carrying their dead and wounded.
"To
sum it up, the battle resulted in the complete failure
of the international alliance of evil, with all its
forces, [to overcome] a small number of mujahideen - 300
mujahideen hunkered down in trenches spread over an area
of one square mile under a temperature of -10 degrees
Celsius. The battle resulted in the injury of 6 percent
of personnel - we hope God will accept them as martyrs -
and the damage of 2 percent of the trenches, praise be
to God. If all the world forces of evil could not
achieve their goals on a one square mile of area against
a small number of mujahideen with very limited
capabilities, how can these evil forces triumph over the
Muslim world? This is impossible, God willing, if people
adhere to their religion and insist on jihad for its
sake.
"O mujahideen brothers in Iraq, do not be
afraid of what the United States is propagating in terms
of their lies about their power and their smart,
laser-guided missiles. The smart bombs will have no
effect worth mentioning in the hills and in the
trenches, on plains, and in forests. They must have
apparent targets. The well-camouflaged trenches and
targets will not be reached by either the smart or the
stupid missiles. There will only be haphazard strikes
that dissipate the enemy ammunition and waste its money.
Dig many trenches. "The [caliph] Umar, may God be
pleased with him, stated: 'Take the ground as a shield
because this will ensure the exhaustion of all the
stored enemy missiles within months'. Their daily
production is too little and can be dealt with, God
willing.
'We also recommend luring the enemy
forces into a protracted, close and exhausting fight,
using the camouflaged defensive positions in plains,
farms, mountains and cities.The enemy fears city and
street wars most, a war in which the enemy expects grave
human losses. We stress the importance of the martyrdom
operations [suicide attacks] against the enemy -
operations that inflicted harm on the United States and
Israel that have been unprecedented in their history,
thanks to Almighty God. Needless to say, this crusade
war is primarily targeted against the people of Islam.
Regardless of the removal or the survival of the
socialist party or Saddam, Muslims in general and the
Iraqis in particular must brace themselves for jihad
against this unjust campaign and acquire ammunition and
weapons. There will be no harm if the interests of
Muslims converge with the interests of the socialists in
the fight against the crusaders, despite our belief in
the infidelity of socialists.
"The fighting,
which is waging and which will be waged these days, is
very much like the fighting of Muslims against the
Byzantine in the past. And the convergence of interests
is not detrimental. The Muslims' fighting against the
Byzantine converged with the interests of the Persians.
And this was not detrimental to the companions of the
prophet. Before concluding, we reiterate the importance
of high morale and caution against false rumors,
defeatism, uncertainty and discouragement. The prophet
said, 'Bring good omens and do not discourage people'.
During the al-Yarmuk Battle, a man told Khalid
bin-al-Walid [an Islamic commander]: 'The Byzantine
soldiers are too many and the Muslims are few'. So,
Khalid told him: 'Shame on you. Armies do not triumph
with large numbers but are defeated if the spirit of
defeatism prevails'."
Thousands of copies of
this message have made it into the Binori
madrassa (religious school) of Karachi and in the
Akora Khattak madrassa of Peshawar in Pakistan and sent
to Iraq via Jordan for distribution among the Iraqi
people and soldiers to counteract the effect of the
anti-Saddam Hussein pamphlets being disseminated by the
coalition forces.
In sermons delivered in many
mosques of Pakistan after Friday prayers, God and bin
Laden were thanked for going to the help of the Iraqi
people in their hour of need. Sandstorms, which swept
across the deserts from March 25 and slowed down the
advance of the coalition troops towards Baghdad, were
described by the mullahs as sent by God to protect the
Iraqi people and to teach the Americans a lesson. The
credit for the resistance put up by the Iraqi soldiers
was attributed to the inspiring example of bin Laden and
his message to the Iraqi people. Appeals were also made
to the Shi'ites of Iraq not to fall prey to what was
described as the Anglo-American machinations to create a
split between the Shi'ites and the Sunnis and the use of
the former against the latter.
Whatever the
outcome of the war, it is likely to give new momentum to
pan-Islamic terrorism across the world. If the US-led
coalition wins, the resulting Muslim anger will swell
the ranks of terrorists and result in more acts of
terrorist retribution. Any coalition defeat will be
viewed as indicating God's blessing for the pan-Islamic
jihad and re-double their Islamic zeal and determination
to spread terrorism in the name of jihad.
B Raman is Additional Secretary (ret),
Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, and presently
director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai; former
member of the National Security Advisory Board of the
Government of India. E-Mail: corde@vsnl.com. He was also
head of the counter-terrorism division of the Research
& Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence
agency, from 1988 to August, 1994.
(©2003
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