Al-Qaeda in Iraq

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This article is about the group called "Al-Qaeda in Iraq". For the alleged earlier involvement of al-Qaeda in Iraq, see Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq (Template:Lang-ar, Al-Qaa`idatu fii bilaadi r-raafidayn, al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia) is the Mujahideen network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born mujahid believed operating against United States-led coalition forces in Iraq. It is the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda.

Before September, 2004 the group was called Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Template:Lang-ar, Monotheism and Holy War Movement) The group's name, which is usually abbreviated as JTJ, purposely contrasts the strict monotheism of Islam with what it sees as the polytheism of the Christian Trinity. The name change is significant as it uses the archaic name of Iraq used in the Islamic Caliphate era.

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Origins

JTJ was started by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian and veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War, during the 1980s at an Islamic militant training camp near Herat in Afghanistan. Zarqawi started the network originally with a focus on overthrowing the Jordanian government, which he considered to be un-Islamic and made up of "hypocrites". Zarqawi comes from a school of militant Sunni Islamist and Wahhabi thought, which advocates a return to the laws and practices of the Muslim community immediately following the death of the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century. After spending five years in a Jordanian prison, for attempting to overthrow the government, Zarqawi later left the country. JTJ likely had loose affiliation with al-Qaeda, but is a separate organization that is to a degree competitive. Eventually, Zarqawi developed a large number of contacts and affiliates in several countries. His network may have been involved in the late 1999 plot to bomb the Millennium celebrations in the US and Jordan. Following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, it is believed that Zarqawi moved westward into Iraq, where he may have received medical treatment in Baghdad for an injured leg. It is believed that he developed extensive ties in Iraq with Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish Islamist militant group that was based in the extreme northeast of the country, but there is no evidence that deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein or the Iraqi government was involved in harboring Zarqawi or Ansar al-Islam. Following the U.S-led invasion of Iraq, JTJ was developed as a terrorist network composed of foreign fighters, remnants of Ansar al-Islam, and indigenous Sunni extremists to resist the coalition occupation forces and their Iraqi allies. The group's spiritual advisor is Abu Anas al-Shami.

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Goals

The goals of Zarqawi's network have shifted considerably over the years. Originally with a localized goal of overthrowing the Jordanian government, the organization gradually became more globalized and, following the fall of Baghdad to American forces, Iraq clearly became the main focus. The stated goals of JTJ are to force a withdrawal of U.S-led forces from Iraq, topple the Iraqi interim government and assassinate collaborators with the "occupation," marginalize the Shiite Muslim population and defeat its militias, and to subsequently establish a pure Islamic state. Presumably, if and when those goals are achieved, the global jihad would continue to establish a pan-Islamic state and remove Western influence from the Muslim world.

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Tactics

JTJ differs from other Iraqi insurgent groups considerably in its tactics. Rather than just using conventional weapons and guerilla tactics, it has relied heavily on using terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, mostly with vehicles, targeting a wide variety of groups but most especially Iraqi security forces and those facilitating the occupation. U.S and coalition forces, the United Nations, foreign civilians, humanitarian organizations, Shiite and Kurdish political and religious figures, Iraqi police and security forces, and Iraqi interim officials have also been targeted. Zarqawi's militants have been known to use a wide variety of other tactics, however, including targeted assassinations, kidnappings and beheadings, the planting of improvised explosive devices, mortar attacks, and in beginning in a late June offensive urban guerilla-style attacks using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.

For months, it appeared as though two separate wars were being conducted in Iraq. One was a militant campaign, largely conducted by foreign jihadis, of high-profile suicide bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings. The other was a guerilla war being conducted by nationalists, indigenous Sunni Islamists, and disenfranchised former Ba'ath Party members against American troops. Recently, as Zarqawi's network has taken root and grown in Iraq and as the insurgents have become more radicalized and religiously motivated, the distinction between the two has reduced. The June 24 offensive, which combined guerrilla, and conventional tactics and in which a number of groups operating under the Zarqawi umbrella participated, was the clearest indication of this shift. Militants in this group also have been known to operate with other insurgents in Samarra, where they openly patrolled, enforcing Sharia law and distributing audiotapes of the Qur'an before a U.S-led offensive on the city in the beginning of October.

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List of attacks

The following is a list of some of the most notable attacks believed to have been perpetrated by Zarqawi's network:

  • Aug. 7, 2003: A truck bombing of the Jordanian embassy, which killed 19.
  • Oct. 27: Four car bombings at Baghdad police stations and the Red Cross headquarters killed 35 and wounded 220.
  • Nov. 12: A suicide truck bombing at the headquarters of Italy's paramilitary police in Nasiriyah that killed more than 30.
  • Dec. 27: An attack on coalition bases and governor's office in Karbala that killed 19.
  • Jan. 18, 2004: A car bombing at the gates of the Green Zone which killed 31.
  • Feb. 10 & 11: Two car bombs at a police station and recruiting center kill 100.
  • Feb. 18: A truck bombing outside a Polish-run base in al-Hillah that killed at least 10 people.
  • March 2: A series of bombings in Baghdad and Karbala kill at least 181 people and injure hundreds more during the Ashoura, a Shiite holiday.
  • March 17: A car bomb detonated outside Baghdad's Mount Lebanon hotel, killing seven people. On April 6, a Web site linked to Kurdish group Ansar al-Islam carried audiotape from a speaker who identified himself as al-Zarqawi and claimed responsibility for the bombing.
  • April 24: Suicide bombers in boats ram oil pumping stations in the Persian Gulf. Three U.S. servicemen are killed in the attack, which cost Iraq some $40 million in lost revenues.
  • May 2: The group claims responsibility for a mortar attack that killed six marines in the Ramadi area.
  • May 11: Kidnapped American businessman Nicholas Berg is beheaded while videotaped, and voice of knife-wielder is identified as al-Zarqawi's.
  • May 22: A suicide car bomb wounds Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Abdul-Jabbar Youssef and kills at least four others.
  • June 14: A car-bomb attack on a vehicle convoy in Baghdad kills 13 people, including three General Electric employees. A Web site posting purportedly written by the "military wing of Monotheism and Jihad," also believed to be led by al-Zarqawi, claims responsibility.
  • June 22: Kidnappers behead South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il, who was last shown alive with his captors in a videotape on Arab satellite TV channel Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera says the execution was carried out by Monotheism and Jihad, a group believed to be led by al-Zarqawi.
  • June 24: Coordinated insurgent attacks on Iraqi police and government buildings in Mosul, Baquba, Ramadi, Fallujah, and Baghdad kill roughly 100 people, including three U.S soldiers, and wound several hundred more. JTJ is suspected of playing a major role, and many guerillas participating in the attacks wore headbands with the group's name.
  • September 16: Americans Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong and Briton Kenneth Bigley were kidnapped from their Baghdad home. The JTJ threatened to behead them in 48 hours unless Iraqi women are released from Umm Qasr and Abu Ghraib prisons. On September 20, the group published a video showing the decapitation of Eugene Armstrong. U.S. Officials say that his body has been found and identified. On September 21, Hensley is beheaded as well.
  • October 8: Kenneth Bigley is beheaded.
  • October 15: Bombers in the Green Zone kill six people, including 4 American civilians, in the first serious penetration of that area.
  • December 19: Car bombs in Karbala and Najaf kill 60 people.
  • Feb. 28: A car bomb killed 125 people outside a clinic in Hillah in the deadliest single insurgent attack.
  • April-June 2005: A series of attacks throughout May following the April 28 formation of the National Assembly kills upwards of 800. Many of these attacks are credited by the al-Tawhid.
  • July 16: A suicide bombings in Mussayib which killed at least 98.
  • September 14: A car bomb kills 112 in Baghdad, amidst other attacks.
  • September 29: Bombings in Balad kill more than 100.
  • November 18: Two truck bombs explodes outside the Hamra Hotel in Baghdad, killing six; in Khanaqin, near the Iranian border, bombers in two mosques kill at least 74.
  • Jan. 4 & 5, 2006: Around 180 Iraqis are killed in suicide attacks across Iraq.
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U.S Campaign against Zarqawi's Forces

The American effort against Zarqawi's network remained largely stagnant due to a lack of credible intelligence. Protecting "soft targets" against bombings conducted by an elusive force is a nearly impossible task. In late June, U.S. forces began a campaign of missile strikes against suspected JTJ safehouses in Fallujah, a stronghold of insurgents and radical clerics and the supposed focus of Zarqawi's terrorist network. In April 2004, U.S. Marines invaded Fallujah killing several hundred militiamen and civilian residents of the city before withdrawing. Between June 18 and June 25, over 60 people were killed in three separate air raids conducted by the U.S military in Fallujah. Civilians and officials in Fallujah charged that civilian targets were hit. Zarqawi himself was said to have narrowly escaped the June 25th attack, although there have been conflicting reports as to whether he is within Fallujah. Iraqi civilians, militiamen, policemen, and members of the Iraqi and U.S. military have suffered several hundred deaths and injuries in subsequent months during an escalating series of duels between anti-coalition terrorists employing car bombs and U.S. forces employing airstrikes. The Euphrates River region between Baghdad and Ramadi is the focus of the search for Zarqawi and his followers.

On October 15, 2004, the U.S. State Department announced its designation of JTJ as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224. Press release.

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See also

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References

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