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A Message from the Iraqi Resistance:
"We Are Not Responsible for 9/11"
By GARY LEUPP
01/17/05 "CounterPunch.org"
-- On January 13 Reuters and the cable news
networks are making a news story of a very interesting short video
from Iraq, addressed to "people of the world." I'd
encountered this on line, via an antiwar.com
link to Information
Clearinghouse, as early as December 19, and found it
noteworthy enough to draft at that time what appears below. One
wonders why the mainstream press has taken three weeks to find it
newsworthy.
The video is elegantly produced in English by
the "Media Platoon" of a group called the "Islamic
Jihad Army." The written message accompanying the opening
martial music indicates that the Islamic Jihad Army was formed by
the merger of the Iraqi Islamic Army and the Islamic Jihad
Brigades, and that the Army "reports to the Mujahadeen Joint
Command," along with nine other named organizations, plus
"other small supporting cells."
Since it's not likely to remain available long,
one should, if interested, check out the website immediately.
(That, again, is: http://informationclearinghouse.info/article7468.htm.)
The transcript of the message is included on the site, so if you
want to, you can print it out and share it with your friends. Not
that I'm suggesting you do so, of course. There's a law against
providing "material assistance" to terrorism, which, I
suppose, should I specifically urge you to circulate this material
(authored by those that the government deems terrorists) I would
by definition do. Nor will I use such adjectives as
"reasonable" or "moving" to describe the
presentation, but just summarize it dispassionately.
The video describes the resistance movement as
one conducted by "simple people who chose principles over
fear," resulting not only from the invasion but from the UN
"sanctions, which we consider the true weapons of mass
destruction."
It explains the invasion in geopolitical terms,
not simplistically as a war between Islam and the West, or
stupidly as a war between Good vs. Evil. "We have not crossed
the oceans and seas to occupy Britain or the U.S." declares
the narrator, "nor are we responsible for 9/11. These are
only a few of the lies that these criminals present to cover their
true plans for the control of the energy resources of the world,
in face of a growing China and a strong unified Europe. It is
ironic that the Iraqis are to bear the full force of this large
and growing conflict on behalf of the rest of this sleeping
world."
The video implicitly links the Iraqi resistance
with the international movement against imperialist globalization,
thanking "all those, including those in Britain and the U.S.,
who took to the streets in protest of this war and against
Globalism." It thanks France and Germany for their "wise
and balanced" position on the war. It indicates sympathy for
the American people, saying they "sufferin general" from
"never-ending and regenerated fear."
It calls upon the people of the world to
"form a worldwide front against war and sanctions." Here
it gets a bit mystical, urging that the front be "governed by
the wise and knowing" who will "bring reform and
order" and create "new institutions" to
"replace the now corrupt." But the message is also
practical and specific: "Stop using the U.S. dollar, use the
Euro or a basket of currencies. Reduce or halt your consumption of
British and U.S. products. Put an end to Zionism before it ends
the world."
As it displays gruesome footage of dead foreign
soldiers, it declares, "We only wish we had more cameras to
show the world their true defeat." It boasts that the enemy
is "on the run" and pinned down, but indicates empathy
with the invaders' plight. If you "lay down your
weapons," it declares, "we will protect you, and we will
get you out of Iraq, as we have done with a few others before
you."
Perhaps in response to U.S. charges that
"foreign fighters" play a significant role in the
insurgency, the message says, "We do not require arms or
fighters, for we have plenty."
Finally, the smooth, confident voice of the
narrator urges the invading foe: "Go back to your homes,
families, and loved ones. This is not your war. Nor are you
fighting for a true cause in Iraq. And to George W. Bush, we say,
'You have asked us to 'Bring it on,' and so have we, like never
expected. Have you another challenge?'"
Despite the name of his group, the spokesman
does not promote Islamism as a political doctrine. He makes no
reference at all to God or religion, except when he urges U.S.
troops, who "can choose to fight tyranny with us" to
"seek refuge in our mosques, churches and homes." And
never, not even once does he say, "We hate your
freedoms."
Gary Leupp is
Professor of History at Tufts University, and Adjunct Professor of
Comparative Religion. He is the author of Servants,
Shophands and Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan; Male
Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan;
and Interracial
Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900.
He is also a contributor to CounterPunch's merciless chronicle of
the wars on Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, Imperial
Crusades.
He can be reached at: gleupp@granite.tufts.edu
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