Who's Blowing Up Iraq?

Who's Blowing Up Iraq?
New evidence that bombs are being planted by British Commandos

By Mike Whitney

09/20/05 "ICH" -- --

"The Iraqi security officials on Monday
variously accused two Britons they detained of shooting at Iraqi
forces or TRYING TO PLANT EXPLOSIVES."
Washington Post, Ellen Knickmeyer, 9-20-05;

"British Smash into Jail to Free Two Detained
Soldiers"

In more than two years since the United States initiated hostilities
against Iraq, there has never been a positive identification of Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi.

Never.

That doesn't mean that he doesn't exist; it simply suggests that
prudent people will challenge the official version until his
whereabouts and significance in the conflict can be verified.

At present, much of the rationale for maintaining the occupation
depends on this elusive and, perhaps, illusory figure. It's odd how
Al-Zarqawi appears at the precise coordinates of America's bombing-
raids, and then, miraculously vanishes unscathed from the scene of
the wreckage. This would be a remarkable feat for anyone, but
especially for someone who only has one leg.

Al-Zarqawi may simply be a fantasy dreamed up by Pentagon planners
to put a threatening face on the Iraqi resistance. The Defense Dept
has been aggressive in its effort to shape information in a way that
serves the overall objectives of the occupation. The primary aim of
the Pentagon's "Strategic Information" program is to distort the
truth in a way that controls the storyline created by the media. Al-
Zarqawi fits perfectly within this paradigm of intentional
deception.

The manipulation of information factors heavily in the steady
increase of Iraqi casualties, too. Although the military refuses "to
do body counts"; many people take considerable interest in the daily
death toll.

Last week, over 200 civilians were killed in seemingly random acts
of violence purportedly caused by al-Zarqawi. But, were they?

Were these massive attacks the work of al-Zarqawi as the western
media reports or some other "more shadowy" force?

One member of the Iraqi National Assembly. Fatah al-Sheikh,
stated, "It seems that the American forces are trying to escalate
the situation in order to make the Iraqi people suffer.. There is a
huge campaign for the agents of the foreign occupation to enter and
plant hatred between the sons of the Iraqi people, and spread rumors
in order to scare the one from the other. The occupiers are trying
to start religious incitement and if it does not happen, then they
will try to start an internal Shiite incitement."

Al-Sheikh's feelings are shared by a great many Iraqis. They can see
that everything the US has done, from the forming a government made
up predominantly of Shi'ites and Kurds, to creating a constitution
that allows the breaking up to the country (federalism), to using
the Peshmerga and Badr militia in their attacks on Sunni cities, to
building an Interior Ministry entirely comprised of Shi'ites,
suggests that the Pentagon's strategy is to fuel the sectarian
divisions that will lead to civil war. Al-Zarqawi is an integral
facet of this broader plan. Rumsfeld has cast the Jordanian as the
agent-provocateur; the driving force behind religious partition and
antagonism.

But, al-Zarqawi has nothing to gain by killing innocent civilians,
and everything to lose. If he does actually operate in Iraq, he
needs logistical supporting all his movements; including help with
safe-houses, assistants, and the assurance of invisibility in the
community. ("The ocean in which he swims") These would disappear
instantly if he recklessly killed and maimed innocent women and
children.

Last week the Imam of Baghdad's al-Kazimeya mosque, Jawad al-Kalesi
said, that "al-Zarqawi is dead but Washington continues to use him
as a bogeyman to justify a prolonged military occupation..He's
simply an invention by the occupiers to divide the people." Al-
Kalesi added that al-Zarqawi was killed in the beginning of the war
in the Kurdish north and that "His family in Jordan even held a
ceremony after his death." (AFP)

Most Iraqis probably agree with al-Kalesi, but that hasn't deterred
the Pentagon from continuing with the charade. This is
understandable given that al-Zarqawi is the last tattered
justification for the initial invasion. It's doubtful that the
Pentagon will ditch their final threadbare apology for the war. But
the reality is vastly different from the spin coming from the
military. In fact, foreign fighters play a very small role in Iraq
with or without al-Zarqawi. As the Center for Strategic and
International Studies
(CSIS) revealed this week in their report, "Analysts and government
officials in the US and Iraq overstated the size of the foreign
element in the Iraqi insurgency.. Iraqi fighters made up less than
10% of the armed groups' ranks, perhaps, even half of that." The
report poignantly notes that most of the foreign fighters were not
previously militants at all, but were motivated by, "revulsion at
the idea of an Arab land being occupied by a non-Arab country."

The report concludes that the invasion of Iraq has added thousands
of "fresh recruits to Osama bin Laden's network;" a fact that is no
longer in dispute among those who have studied the data on the
topic.

The al-Zarqawi phantasm is a particularly weak-link in the
Pentagon's muddled narrative. The facts neither support the
allegations of his participation nor prove that foreigners are a
major contributor to the ongoing violence. Instead, the information
points to a Defense establishment that cannot be trusted in anything
it says and that may be directly involved in the terrorist-bombings
that have killed countless thousands of Iraqi civilians.

Regrettably, that is prospect that can't be ignored. After all, no
one else benefits from the slaughter.

(Note: Since this article was written, the Washington Post has added
to our suspicions. In an Ellen Knickmeyer article "British Smash
into Iraqi Jail to free 2 detained Soldiers" 9-20-05, Knickmeyer
chronicles the fighting between British forces and Iraqi police who
were detaining 2 British commandos. "THE IRAQI SECURITY OFFICIALS ON
MONDAY VARIOUSLY ACCUSED THE TWO BRITONS THEY DETAINED OF SHOOTING
AT IRAQI FORCES or TRYING TO PLANT EXPLOSIVES."

Is this why the British army was ordered to "burst through the walls
of an Iraqi jail Monday in the southern city of Basra".followed
by "British armored vehicles backed by helicopter gun-ships" ending
in "hours of gun battles and rioting in Basra's streets"?
(Washington Post)

Reuters reported that "half a dozen armored vehicles had smashed
into the jail" and the provincial governor, Mohammed Walli, told
news agencies that the British assault was "barbaric, savage and
irresponsible."

So, why were the British so afraid to go through the normal channels
to get their men released?

Could it be that the two commandos were "trying to plant explosives"
as the article suggests?

An interview on Syrian TV last night also alleges that the British
commandos "were planting explosives in one of the Basra streets".

"Al-Munajjid] In fact, Nidal, this incident gave answers to
questions and suspicions that were lacking evidence about the
participation of the occupation in some armed operations in Iraq.
Many analysts and observers here had suspicions that the occupation
was involved in some armed operations against civilians and places
of worship and in the killing of scientists. But those were only
suspicions that lacked proof. The proof came today through the
arrest of the two British soldiers while they were planting
explosives in one of the Basra streets. This proves, according to
observers, that the occupation is not far from many operations that
seek to sow sedition and maintain disorder, as this would give the
occupation the justification to stay in Iraq for a longer period.

[Zaghbur] Ziyad al-Munajjaid in Baghdad, thank you very much.
Copyright Syrian Arab TV and BBC Monitoring, 2005"

And then there was this on Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, 9-19-05; Interview
with Fattah al-Shaykh, member of the National Assembly and deputy
for Basra.

."the sons of Basra caught two non-Iraqis, who seem to be Britons
and were in a car of the Cressida type. It was a booby-trapped car
laden with ammunition and was meant to explode in the centre of the
city of Basra in the popular market. However, the sons of the city
of Basra arrested them. They [the two non-Iraqis] then fired at the
people there and killed some of them. The two arrested persons are
now at the Intelligence Department in Basra, and they were held by
the National Guard force, but the British occupation forces are
still surrounding this department in an attempt to absolve them of
the crime."

Copyright Al Jazeera TV and BBC Monitoring, 2005 (Thanks to Michel
Chossudovsky at Global Research for the quotes from Al Jazeera and
Syrian TV)

Does this solve the al-Zarqawi mystery? Are the bombs that are
killing so many Iraqi civilians are being planted by British and
American Intelligence?

We'll have to see if this damning story can be corroborated by other
sources.