13/04/08 Arab Woman Newsbytes -- - This post is a transcript of the interview with M.Al-Shammari, ( head of the Islamic Army of Iraq/IAI ) aired on Al-Jazeerah on the 9th of April 2008, an interview conducted by Ahmad Mansour.

M.Al-Shammari replies and comments are in Italics. IAI is ONE faction of the Iraqi Resistance(IR ). I have tried regrouping his replies under headings to simplify it for the reader.Please do remember that this a transcript from hand written notes.

1) Words of Introduction by Al-Shammari – in response to a question re.the surge and the IR.

Petraeus did not make any progress in Iraq. This is nothing but another lie in the series of lies started by Bush with his WMD’s. There is no progress.
The Resistance has not changed its strategy which is the end of the occupation. Petraeus alleged that the attacks are down by 60% when 2007 was the year that witnessed the highest rate of attacks.
The Resistance did change its tactics but not its strategy. The Americans are desperate for some calm before the November elections, but the Resistance will decide when to implement an upsurge in its attacks against the occupier, maybe during certain “crucial moments” but this is up to the Resistance to decide when and how. As I said, there is a change of tactics but not of strategy.

2) What about the “drop” in the IR attacks ?

What looks like a current “drop” is not a weakness. We are a realist/pragmatic movement. There have been changes in the Iraqi political scene, namely Al-Qaeda, the Sahwa and the sectarian Shiite militias and we adapt accordingly. There have been many attempt to “purify” the Resistance by the occupiers and others...
So, no, we did not dissolve or dilute, either against Al-Qaeda or the sectarian Shiite Militias.
In fact the Americans by backing the sectarian Shiite militias wanted just that, to weaken us. Remember that we are facing a dual occupation, we’ve said in the past and we repeat it again, a dual occupation by the US and Iran.

3) On Sectarianism.

a) You have been accused of Sunni Sectarianism, what do you have to say to that?

The IR protected Shiites in many areas from their own death squads. The IR has condemned and condemns attacks on civilians, we do not blow up markets filled with innocent lives. This is a propaganda tactic by the occupier to discredit us. Suicide bombings against Iraqi civilians, beheadings, car bombs and the rest are all the work of the Occupation, the mercenaries, the Mossad, the Iranian militias and its sectarian squads. On many occasions, cars have been stopped at checkpoints only to find out that during their search they (US forces and militias) have planted bombs in them without the car owner’s knowledge.
The IR does not do such things. We need the Iraqi people, all of the Iraqi people, it is from them that we draw force and support, how can we target them ? We are a Resistance movement against the Occupation (both American and Iranian) not against the Iraqi people. We need our people. How can we kill our own people ?

The sectarian parties and militias backed by Iran and the US started the sectarian and civil war. We do not blame the Shias but the parties and the militias who are totally bought by Iran and who managed to co-opt some of the Iraqi Arab Shiites to their side. A good number of Arab shias are aware of that, and a number of Shia tribes in the South have spoken out against the Iranian influence and we have contact with them and encourage them. They reject these militias and the Iranian influence. Leaders of these sectarian Shiite parties and their religious representatives terrorize the Shias, by calling them "Kafirs" (disbelievers) if they don’t follow such and such party or militia...

Our theological differences with Shiism can be resolved through discussion, we are not anti-Shiism. We are anti sectarian Shiite parties and militias who are supported by Iran.

Our program is the liberation of ALL Iraqis and Iraq from the Occupation. We are not here to liberate Sunnis alone. Ours was never a Sunni program alone. We do not follow such sectarian thinking.
Had Sunnis been sectarian, then historically, during the Abbassid, Ummayad and Ottoman eras (eras of Sunni rule) the Sunnis would have wiped out all other sects, including the Shias, but that has evidently not been the case. Our stand is for the Islamic Umma not for the Sunni sect. We defend the whole of Iraq not just the Sunnis.

b) But the Resistance is nonetheless majority Sunni, and stayed Sunni, has it not ?

The Iraqi Resistance is majority Sunni by default. The U.S. is the one who brought the sectarian Shiite parties and militias when it invaded and occupied. And they were/are backed by Iran. The Marjaiya (Shiite theological council) backed these parties and militias. The U.S is the one who brought the division of Iraq into sects and ethnicities. Arabs – Sunnis and Shiites, and Kurds. The Americans in yet another lie, said that Sunni represent only 20% of the Iraqi population, when in fact the Arab Sunnis represented 43% of the population and with the Kurds (who are majority Sunni), they add up to 55% of the Iraqi population. Hence their logic was/is, since Sunnis are such a minority, they really don’t count much in the “democratic process” being a negligible portion, hence Federalism/Partition is a viable option. And in Iraq, Federalism means Partition.

4) On Al-Qaeda and the Sahwa (Awakening Council)

Bush spoke of the Sunni intifada against Al-Qaeda through the Sahwa. What is the influence/role of the Sahwa on the Iraqi Resistance ?

There are s five types of Sahwa members.

- Some are paid allies of the Americans (sell outs) and are working for them.
- Others have joined because they have been without income and have been unemployed for many years and that was one of the American tactics
- Others realized that Iran had a full grip over the sectarian militias and that they posed the most immediate threat after all the sectarian cleansing that took place.
- some are just financial opportunist
- some as a reaction to the works of Al-Qaeda.

But a good deal of those who joined the Sahwa are realizing that their true interests lie with the Resistance and many have backtracked and left the Sahwa. And we are a pragmatic movement, and we realize that the Sahwa is also due to the works of Al-Qaeda. Moreover, the Sunnis have been targets for the US forces, the AQ and the sectarian government and its militias.

With Al-Qaeda, we’ve had conflict and clashes. Their hidden strategy of targeting our mosques, academics, markets, civilians, and ex-army officers who fought against Iran in the Iran-Iraq war-- raised many questions and as to what their hidden agenda is.

Furthermore their “takfeeree”(accusing someone of being an unbeliever) program for both Sunnis and Shiites was unacceptable to us. They managed to cause a split within the Sunnis and this makes us doubt their intentions. They even targeted our own Resistance fighters. Our policy is not to directly fight them but we will defend ourselves against any of their attacks and we pray that they be guided to the right path and cease their hostilities. The latest Bin Laden message had in fact a negative impact. Our differences with AQ are not political, but IDEOLOGICAL.

5) On Muqtada Al-Sadr.

The latest events in Basra with the Mahdi resistance fighters . Do you consider this Shia resistance rising along the same path as your Resistance ? Are they anti Maliki and anti-Occupation?

In the very beginning when Muqtada Al-Sadr in 2004 in Nejaf, was fighting the occupation, we welcomed him and encouraged him, until, the men (within his army) who fought the occupation were liquidated one by one and Muqtada and his men were co-opted by Iran...

We consider the Mahdi Army one of the worst militias, responsible for a lot of the sectarian cleansing that took place.

In fact, Muqtada and his men voted for Al-Maliki, and have been engaged in the political process for over 5 years now, is it now that they remembered the occupation and the resistance, after 5 years ?

Sadr’s conflict with Maliki and the Badr Brigades is over the provincial elections and who controls the resources (oil)

If Muqtada Al-Sadr wants to be part of the Resistance, he needs to DESIST and stop displacing and exiling Iraqis, he needs to stop burning mosques and engaging in sectarian cleansing, which he has not stopped doing till this day...


6) On Maliki's “government” and Iran.

We do not recognize this puppet government issued from the occupation and we don’t deal with it. The Maliki government is overtly pro-American and covertly pro-Iran. Hence Ahmadinejad's visit to Iraq was no surprise to us. We have said it before and will repeat it, this is a dual occupation (American-Iranian).

There is an imperial convergence of interests between Iran and the US in Iraq and in Afghanistan. There is an Iranian imperialist design under the American imperialist design.

Iran opportunistically used its geographical proximity and its religious influence over the Shiites of Iraq to fulfill its imperialistic project – that of occupying Iraq. Iran in 8 years of war did not manage to secure anything in Iraq, but under the American banner it managed to achieve what it could not achieve in 8 years of bloody war.
The real victor in Iraq is Iran. Iran is after all a neighbor.

- When the axis of Evil welcomes the Great Satan and there has been 4 rounds of talks between the US and Iran what does that mean ?

As I said, there is a convergence of interests between the US and Iran, in their imperialist designs in Iraq (and Afghanistan). Inside of Iraq, Iran and the US are Muta’a partners (temporary marriage) and outside of Iraq there is a cold war going on between them. We don’t know how long this Muta’a marriage will last in Iraq, maybe they will turn it into an American civil marriage.

Iran has occupied Iraq and has helped the U.S occupation. Iran’s interests in Iraq are not just strategic but they also derive from greed. We all know the tactics of "taqiya" (dissimulation)and Maliki is serving both. It is in the interest of Iran not to have any form of stability in Iraq. The US and Iran are only fighting on who will get the bigger share of the cake.

- But Iran offered to pay 1 billion dollars for the reconstruction of Baghdad.

We don’t need nor want Iran’s money and contribution. We are against ALL occupation. Iranian or American.

7) On the Arab Countries’ role

The Arabs by falling under the American hegemony have allowed Iran’s influence to extend to the Gulf. The Arab countries have left Iraq to herself and forgot about their own Arab interests and submitted to Americans interests instead.
The Iraqi Resistance has a 14 point political program and its different factions even though may disagree on tactics, agree on the overall strategy.
The IAI has already visited Egypt, and we are establishing contacts with other Arab countries. I think they are seriously considering the points we have raised here...

8) On the future of the Occupation, Iraq and the US.

Iraq lives in a total daily chaos. Those who died, died because of the American/Iranian occupation. The occupation has created chaos –- political, economic and social chaos. It has torn apart the Iraqi social fabric.
The US is not serious about negotiating with the IR. We are open to negotiations and a withdrawal of the US troops.
But Bush is aiming for a definitive “victory” in Iraq before his end of term.
After 5 years, Bush is still hoping for a total victory. That is why he is pushing the Maliki government to sign a long term bilateral treaty with Iraq which will ensure both Federalism/Partition, oil, and a long term US presence.

For us Victory means totally Victory - the End of the Occupation(s)