A Terrorist Confesses: Excerpts From Iraqi TV
This translation is from memritv.org. (I hope the link holds.)
I’ve read a couple two other confession transcripts –one that was televised in Iraq earlier this year. This one is particularly grim. In 2001 the Kurds said that Ansar al-Islam was connected to Bin Laden. Saddam connived with Ansar to attack the Kurds. At one point the terrorist –Ramzi Hashem Abed– says that Ansar “is bin Laden’s group.”
Abed describes some of the tactics used to implement Zarqawi’s strategy in Iraq — to incite a Sunni vs. Shia civil war, ignite Arab-Kurd antipathies, and embroil the Turks.
Read the whole thing.
Here are some excerpts of the excerpt:
Interrogator: “What organization do you belong to?”
Abed: “Ansar Al-Islam.”
Interrogator: “What organization is this?”
Abed: “It is bin Laden’s group.”
[…]Abed: “Mullah Al-Shafi’i said that we were going to carry out operations in Najaf.”
Interrogator: “What kind of operations?”
Abed: “The Al-Qabanji operation, for example, or sending them poisoning food on the day commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.”
[…]Interrogator: “Give me an example of an operation.”
Abed: “The Turkish embassy, for example.”
Interrogator: “The Turkish embassy in Baghdad?”
Abed: “Yes, or the Red Cross. We bombed it. The guys and I bombed it.”
Interrogator: “What was the goal of bombing the Turkish embassy or the Red Cross?”
Abed: “By bombing the Turkish embassy, we wanted to cause a problem between the Turkmens and the Kurds.”
Interrogator: “In other words, to cause civil strife between the two sides?”
Abed: “Yes.”
Interrogator: “As for the murder of Muhammad Baqer Al-Hakim, you were one of the perpetrators, right?”
Abed: “Yes.”
Interrogator: “Tell me how it took place.”
Abed: “The operation… It was agreed upon right from the start by Mullah Al-Raikan, Mullah Al-Shafi’i, and Al-Zarqawi. They took us Iraqis to do surveillance from a distance. There were people there who specialized in bombing operations. They are still in Baghdad and Mosul.”
Interrogator: “How many were you?”
Abed: “About four or five people.”
Interrogator: “Those who carried out the operation?”
Abed: “Yes.”
Interrogator: “They sent an ambulance and used remote control.”
Abed: “Yes.”
Interrogator: “Where were you exactly at the time of the incident?”
Abed: “We were in the cemetery.”
Interrogator: “Why weren’t you close to the incident?”
Abed: “Because there were specialists who carried out the operation.”
Interrogator: “Specialists? Who were they?”
Abed: “Abu Sajjad, Abu Haidar, and Abu Hamza.”
Interrogator: “All these are aliases. What are their real names?”
Abed: “They never give out their real names.”
Interrogator: “You don’t even know their real names?”
Abed: “No. For example, my name is Ramzi, right? They call me Abu Shema’, after my daughter.”
Yes. Father of Shema.
Here’s another “operation” involving Abu Shema.
Interrogator: “Did you kidnap women?”
Abed: “Yes.”
Interrogator: “There were operations of kidnapping and rape, carried out by the squad you belong to?”
Abed: “Yes.”
Interrogator: “Tell me how many rape and kidnapping operations were carried out. My information says that the kidnapped women were university students or daughters of famous people. You raped them and got money for it, and if they were not slaughtered afterwards…. Did this really happen?”
Abed: “Yes, it did.”
Interrogator: “Who would carry out these operations?”
Abed: “Abu Sajjad.”
Interrogator: “Your superior?”
Abed: “Yes.”
Read the entire report. Think about the tactics. And shudder.
Of particular interest to the whole Ansar-al-Islam matter is this article from the Weekly Standard on this group. Seems it was a joint venture of Saddam Hussein’s regime and al-Qaeda.
Comment by HaroldHutchison — 8/19/2005 @ 11:58 am
Not to make light of anything in the interview or the actual crimes, but the same thing is going on in many large cities in the U.S. right at this moment. Rape, murder, kidnapping, you name it by gangs of various creeds, colors and motives. We just keep it out of the news. While in Iraq, the MSM pounce on each and every instance of these things. The money and the outside terrorists must be stopped. Jobs must be made available to all Iraqi,Kurd,Arab,Persian peoples. Religion, corruption and revenge have been long present in the Middle East. It will take many years to undermine them and to show that honest hard work for a fair wage is the better way. Have you ever heard…”God forgive them, for they no not what they do.” Its more true than you think, in a lot of places in this ol’ world. Papa Ray West Texas USA
Comment by Papa Ray — 8/19/2005 @ 2:08 pm
Yes, but Bush Lied and People Died. Why are you trying to change the subject? B
Comment by Brian — 8/19/2005 @ 2:14 pm
Wow, reading about the Iraqi Minutemen it’s eerie how similar they are to America’s Minutemen from the 18th century. That Michael Moore is sure one sharp fellow…
Comment by Greg T. — 8/19/2005 @ 2:16 pm
Papa Ray, Are rapes generally carried out by gangs for profit in the U.S? All the trials I read about in my local paper are done by individuals or very small ad hoc groups. I can think of no gang kidnap and rape for ransom that I’ve read about. Kidnap for ransom is even vary rare here because of the high probability of getting caught and severely punished. There are less dangerous, more profitable crimes available to gangs. If Ray is right, and these crimes are being committed but not reported, are they being prosecuted? If so, why don’t I know anyone who has ever mentioned serving on a jury for one. I know people who have been on rape or murder juries, but never a kidnap and rape for ransom jury. Things may be imperfect in West Texas, Ray, but they aren’t that bad.
Comment by Dave — 8/19/2005 @ 3:00 pm
Insofar as this is being broadcast in the Middle East (and especially Iraq), the question is, what is the show’s ratings? If they’re high, then revelations such as these, especially if constantly reiterated and repeated, may well be a major part of winning the battle against the insurgency. At the end of the day, the insurgency requires the support of a substantial portion fo the population in order to survive. As Mao wrote, the guerilla swims in the sea of the people. If the people turn against the guerillas, then their ability to threaten the country or take political power (versus simply setting off bombs and killing people like good little nihilists) is limited and declining.
Comment by Lurking Observer — 8/19/2005 @ 3:27 pm
What is also interesting is how this al-Qaeda affiliate is using the tactics of Saddam Hussein’s regime. You didn’t hear of rape rooms in the al-Qaeda havens of Afghanistan or Sudan. I don’t even recall this sort of thing from Afghanistan after the United States began to liberate that country.
Comment by HaroldHutchison — 8/19/2005 @ 3:48 pm
Ummm…I live in a the great big bad city of Chicago and most of the rapes reported here concern individuals. There are rumors of gangs raping girls as part of initiations, but if these rumors are true the level of crime still isn’t at the scale being reported in this article. And we only had 448 murders in the whole city last year (hey, thats big news for us).
Comment by Carolynn — 8/19/2005 @ 3:51 pm
I never knew gang violence in the US was intended to destroy our civil structure and country, as we know it. Not all, but most of the violence is the result of “turf†warfare: gang versus gang. Nobody designs bombs with the intention of killing as many innocents as possible, or have ambulances explode in front of hospitals, or destroying our country’s infrastructure etc. Nobody commits suicide in the name of a god, trying to kill as many as possible on his way to paradise. Every nation has crime but comparisons with Islamo-fascist terrorists are absurd. The magnitude of their evil and destruction threaten free societies cannot be deluded.
Comment by Steve — 8/19/2005 @ 5:04 pm
Still, there’s no connection between Saddam and al Qaeda, nor Iraq and the WoT. This just further proves it is the “wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.” (sarcasm intended!!)
Comment by Rob Mandel — 8/19/2005 @ 5:32 pm
The Middle East, where no one votes for their elected officials, has been in the Dark Ages in terms of governance, and the war in Iraq is square one in saying “enough is enough”. In 50 years from now the bulk of the Iraqi people will never have known anything but a modern form of governance and the anger, bitterness, sense of powerlessness, hopelessness, and shame that generates hateful mentality like the above will be discarded to “the dustbin of history”. This is the goal and the strategy is reasonable.
Comment by BlueSky — 8/19/2005 @ 10:02 pm
Regarding comment #7 above, according to accounts in Crile’s “Charlie Wilson’s War”, the muj routinely raped male Soviet prisoners during the 80s. This is a sickness that goes back further than 2003 in Iraq, and isn’t just tied to Saddam’s filthy taint.
Comment by Rob — 8/20/2005 @ 8:35 am
Confessions of Michael Moore’s Iraqi “Minutemen” Read the transcript. But remember, we’re the real terrorists here. Vectored via Austin Bay Blog - one of your best sources for information on Iraq on the web. …
Trackback by Life in the Atomic Age — 8/20/2005 @ 10:35 am
I got it: Kevin Costner as the rapist and patriot, Abu Shema; Britney Spears as sluttly girl who gets what’s coming to her; and a ranting raving Jack Nicholson as the horrible American interpreter.
Comment by amazingcroc — 8/20/2005 @ 4:58 pm
Still, there’s no connection between Saddam and al Qaeda, nor Iraq and the WoT. This just further proves it is the “wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.†(sarcasm intended!!) Uhh, actually it proves, or at least indicates the opposite. Did you not read the piece in whole or what? Seeding some form of Democracy and free election in the heart of the hornets nest is the smartest way to fight the GWOT.
Comment by John Gonzales — 8/20/2005 @ 10:11 pm
Some people need to get out more often, if they think rape, kidnap, and torture dont happen here in the U.S. .. It happens on a regular basis too.. The roads outside Vegas have running car-to-car gunbattles ALL the time.. The drug cartel wars from the border all the way to Dallas are regular fare in the news lately, and the occurance of mistaken addresses is common, with the wrong person/persons being victims.. National Parks seem to be the latest targets of kidnap/ransom attacks, it seems.. Older people at parks are taken captive and made to drive somewhere to an ATM or bank and withdraw money.. Rival gangs often kidnap another gangs girls and rape, torture, and then carve their gangs symbol on the girl with a knife before returning her, after trading her for guns, cars, turf, drugs, or other innocent girls that were captured.. Happens all the time, Bubba !! Wake up !!
Comment by Wild Bill — 8/21/2005 @ 1:09 pm
Wild Bill’s fantasies. Just send him some cash and he’ll personalize his fantasies just for you and your hometown. Don’t get out much? No problem. Subscribe to Wild Bill’s Serial Fantasy Service and you won’t need to get out. You’ll live on the wild side, the Wild Bill side, by proxy. Ever seen “Death Wish” with Chuck Bronson? Now that’s the future.
Comment by Arput Mehdi — 8/21/2005 @ 6:07 pm
Austin, Is there something wrong with your datestamp or did you really post this two years ago? If so, good find. There is actually a video available, produced by al Qaeda and tracked down by Joseph Shahda, that shows al Qaeda training in Iraq in 2002 and whoever said that the Kurds knew about this in 2001 I agree. http://regimeofterror.com/archives/2007/07/al_qaeda_video_documents_husse_1/ I talked to their reps on the phone a few times and they sent me a pretty detailed file of what they sent the CIA back then. The CIA wasn’t interested in their story…
Comment by Mark Eichenlaub — 8/13/2007 @ 4:04 pm