Latest Guerrilla Terror Tactics Used Against
U.S. Troops
Iraqi Ayatollah Vows to "Resist" U.S.
After Saddam's Fall
March 26, 2003
By Toby Westerman
Copyright 2003 International News Analysis Today
www.inatoday.com
Iraq's most loyal and aggressive troops are wearing military uniforms identical "in the smallest detail" to U.S. and British military uniforms, aimed at making detection of hostile Iraqi forces perilously difficult, according to the Internet version of the German news magazine Der Spiegel, citing sources in the U.S. intelligence community.
Other Iraqi soldiers are melting into the general civilian
population, and are awaiting the approach of unwary
coalition troops, Der Spiegel reported.
Saddam's elite troops are described as "…extremely dangerous
men, entirely without scruple. They know they have no
role in a future Iraq, so they have nothing to lose,"
said Major General Peter Wall, commander of British
forces in the Iraq campaign.
Although posing a clear danger to individual coalition soldiers, the guerrilla tactics of Saddam's elite forces "are in no way a threat to the success of our mission," stated U.S. Lieutenant General John Abizaid in Der Spiegel.
Most observers believe that the end of Saddam Hussein and his elite troops will come only with fall of Baghdad to U.S.-led forces. The end of Saddam's regime, however, may not be the end of the threat of guerrilla activity directed against coalition troops.
If, as reported, the U.S. establishes a military government following Saddam's fall, a new and even more determined guerrilla conflict may erupt.
Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al Hakim, the leader of the Iran-based Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), is vowing "to resist foreign domination" if a non-Iraqi controlled government follows Saddam's ouster, according to a recent report from the Italian news daily La Stampa.
The SCIRI is a leading member of the coalition of anti-Saddam Iraqis organized by the U.S. to eventually govern a post-Saddam Iraq. Of all the organizations participating in the anti-Saddam coalition, the SCIRI has by far the largest military force and the greatest number of members in Iraq.
Al Hakim has already condemned the U.S.-led war against the Saddam Hussein regime, and, although calling on Iraqis not to support Saddam, al Hakim is urging all Iraqis "not to aid the USA" in its war efforts.
The war against Saddam is "an act of hegemony and not of liberation," al Hakim asserted in remarks reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Should al Hakim choose to resist a U.S. occupation of Iraq, he has considerable forces at his disposal. A representative of the SCIRI claims that the organization has 40,000 armed and trained men, armored vehicles, missile launchers, and anti-chemical warfare equipment, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
Al Hakim also works closely with Iran, one of the "axis of evil" states and a burgeoning nuclear power. Iran, in turn, is an important friend of Russia, a "strategic ally" of the United States.
Copyright 2003
International News Analysis Today
INA Today.com
2364 Jackson St. #301
Stoughton, WI 53589 U.S.A.
Unique sources -- unique information -- news and
analysis you will find nowhere else.
Read International News Analysis.
Order 12 issues of International News Analysis
for only $29.95 (U.S. funds; $39.95 Canadian and overseas).
Send subscriptions to:
International News Analysis
2364 Jackson St. #301
Stoughton, WI 53589 U.S.A.
Return to INA TODAY.com homepage
