Is the “Resistance” Legitimate? - Part I

Under the Dictator’s Shadow

Your average Leftist would spend an hour defining the term, “legitimate”, but I am not going to bore you with an English lesson. As a matter of fact, I’m not even going to waste time trying to convince you that I am making an impartial judgment. No way!!! I will not attempt to mislead you by trying to hide my bias. I believe that the Iraqi “resistance” is based on a brutal thirst for power, religious intolerance and ignorance. So I will state my case and you can read it or you can chase Zionist conspiracies at Counterpunch instead.

The insurgency was planned long before the 2003 liberation of Iraq. Saddam made urgent preparations to hold on to his power or win it back. This is a man who defined the term, Dictator. There are many estimates as to how many civilians the Baathist regime killed, some estimates run as high as a million. For argument’s sake I will take the numbers given by Human Rights Watch, a group more concerned with opposing Saddam’s trial and bashing the US than seeing justice done, so they are not interested in inflating the numbers. They have made a calculation of about 290,000 Iraqis murdered or “disappeared” at the hands of Saddam’s security forces. In light of this, its not too far fetched to say that such a dictator who disregards the lives of non-combatants so callously could be responsible for initiating and planning the brutal Iraqi insurgency.

In 1995 Saddam’s son Uday formed the paramilitary organization Fedayeen Saddam. This was Saddam’s first step towards planning the insurgency. The unit reported directly to the Presidential Palace, rather than through the army command, giving them a status above the law. There was a special unit known as the Death Squadron, whose masked members performed executions of civilians thought to be disloyal to the regime.

During the initial US invasion the Fedayeen were notorious for their brutality to Shiite civilians and to Iraqi soldiers that were accused of cowardice. After taking a heavy beating and being completely routed in the Shiite south they hung on in their Sunni stronghold to conduct some of the first insurgent attacks. Throughout the insurgency the Fedayeen have earned a reputation for their ruthlessness. Thats no small feat considering the scope of the inhumanity displayed by the insurgents in the last couple of years.

Direct preparations for the insurgency were made when Saddam’s regime gathered more than 1,000 security and intelligence officers to two military facilities near Baghdad where they underwent two months of guerrilla training on the eve of the liberation. However, the insurgency couldn't be fought by Saddam loyalists alone, they needed money.

The regime’s funding and participation in the insurgency is illustrated by the family of Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, a former advisor to Saddam (as well as his half-brother). In September of last year his son, Ayman Sabawi, was sentenced to life in prison by the Iraqi authorities for funding Iraq’s insurgency and bomb-making. Ayman helped finance attacks in central Iraq that were carried out by the Fedayeen Saddam. He urged Baathist loyalists to attack Iraq’s civilian infrastructure, notably oil pipelines, water and power facilities. Six of al-Hassan’s sons had their US assets frozen for their participation in the insurgency. As for al-Hassan himself, he was arrested for bomb making activities and is awaiting trial.

In December of 2004 a former Republican Guard officer, Izzi-din Mohammad Hassan al-Majid, was arrested. Al-Majid used front companies based in Europe and the Middle East to launder from $2 billion to $7 billion dollars that was stolen by elements of the former regime and was used to fund the terrorist operations in Iraq. Three terror groups benefited from this money; Ansar al-Sunna, Mohammed’s Army and the Islamic Resistance Army.

Approximately 80% of all insurgent attacks occur in Sunni dominated central Iraq. The Kurdish north and Shia south remain relatively calm. Of the most wanted members of Saddam’s regime that are still free many belonged to the security forces and are believed to be active in the insurgency. Here is a partial list of some of the major players:

Hani abd al-Latif al-Tilfah al-Tikriti, COL
Director, Special Security Organization (SSO) And Responsible For Security And Investigations

Sayf al-Din Fulayyih Hasan Taha al-Rawi, LTG
Chief of Iraqi Republican Guard (RG)

Rafi abd al-Latif Tilfah al-Tikriti, MG
Director, Directorate Of General Security (DGS)

Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, LTG
Director, Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS)

Shortly before the liberation of Iraq - arms were distributed to regime supporters and stockpiled at schools, mosques and hospitals. Ammunition dumps were dispersed throughout the country making weapons easily available to even the average Iraqi. There is no doubt that the Baathist regime planned the insurgency, initiated it and continue to lead a large portion of it. Even the first suicide car bombing was conducted under Saddam’s orders. Ali Hammadi al-Namani, an Iraqi officer, killed four American soldiers while disguised a taxi driver. He waved the soldiers over to his car and detonated his explosives in March of 2003.

A little further back in October of 2002, it was announced by an Iraqi official that Saddam Hussein won his re-election as President of Iraq. 100 percent of the eligible voters were said to have voted for him. This was an improvement from the results of his last election in 1995, when Saddam received 99.96% of the “yes” vote. Of course he was the only candidate allowed in either “election”. This stands in stark contrast to two legitimate elections and one constitutional referendum held under the supervision of the occupation.

So is it an illegitimate occupation or was it an illegitimate dictatorship?

Join me next week for Part II - Religious Bigotry and the Insurgency