Iraqi attackers -- who are they?
Robert Collier, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, July 13, 2003
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URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...13/MN64827.DTL



Baghdad -- As violent anti-American resistance appears to be gaining force
in Iraq, with attacks against U.S. troops occurring several times daily,
there is growing debate over the enemy's real identity.

Are the attackers, who have killed 31 U.S. soldiers in the past 10 weeks,
fedayeen militia fighters loyal to Saddam Hussein, as Washington officials
have often stated? Are they former soldiers from the Republican Guard and
other army units? Are they unemployed workers? And are the attacks centrally
coordinated, or are they the work of small, disconnected groups?

If the fighters are mostly members of the former regime's hard core, it is
believed the U.S. military will have a relatively easy time of finishing
them off. But if they represent a broader cross-section of the Iraqi
population -- as even some U.S. military officials are beginning to
suggest -- the job will be much more difficult, messy and protracted.

The questions have assumed a particular urgency for American Army officers
here, as they anticipate a rash of possible attacks this week to coincide
with anniversaries important to those who still support Hussein.

Monday is the 45th anniversary of the 1958 revolution that overthrew the
British-backed monarchy; Wednesday is the 24th anniversary of Hussein's
ascension to power in 1979; and next Friday is the 35th anniversary of the
Baath Party coup in 1968.

U.S. officials in Baghdad said last week they had received intelligence
reports indicating that senior Baath Party officials recently held a
clandestine meeting to regroup their forces under Hussein's titular
leadership.

"Are they operating on some sort of commander's intent out there?" Lt. Gen.
Ricardo Sanchez asked at a Baghdad press conference on Thursday. "Probably
so. There's no question in my mind that there are former Saddam
Fedayeen-trained soldiers that are out there, Special Republican Guard
soldiers that are still out there continuing with their offensive against
us."


'SPECTER OF SADDAM'
Sanchez added: "I think the fact that the specter of Saddam continues to be
present out there, whether he is dead or alive, is making a significant
impact on the people of Iraq and their ability to cooperate with the
coalition."

But there is a growing belief, held by both Iraqis and Americans here, that
Hussein has lost his sway over all but a tiny core of loyalists, and that
the nascent guerilla-style insurgency has spread beyond their ranks.

"Saddam is not the leader anymore," said a colonel with the special
paratroop forces of Hussein's Republican Guard, who asked to remain
anonymous because he says he fears arrest by U.S. authorities.

"There are many groups behind the resistance," said the colonel, who
declined to say whether he has direct contact with the groups. "There is
coordination between some. It's a small part Fedayeen Saddam, but also part
tribes, groups of the military and Islamic resistance. You will see a lot of
new groups as long as the American administration keeps taking bad actions.
It will get worse."

Last week, the Bush administration offered a $25 million reward for the
capture or proven death of Hussein, but the Iraqi colonel believes that
either would make little difference. "It will have no effect on the
resistance," he said.


'A NATIONAL STRUGGLE'
"It's mostly young people, who have no jobs, and they see the Americans
committing abuses and occupying the country, so they have no choice but to
fight," said an Iraqi journalist who formerly worked for one of the regime's
newspapers. "It is a national struggle and an Islamic struggle."

U.S. occupation officials concur, at least in part, with the Iraqis'
assessment of the breadth of the resistance, and they acknowledge that the
slow pace of recovery -- power outages, water shortages, rampant street
crime and widespread unemployment -- has contributed in part to the
violence.

"I think it's a bit of everything -- fedayeen, ex-military and unemployed
workers sitting around fuming in the heat," said Lt. Col. Eric Wesley, of
the Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Fallujah, the city west of Baghdad that
is a center of anti-American sentiment. "From what we've seen around here,
it's probably small, disconnected groups, which will be difficult to root
out."

Fallujah and the surrounding region is also the heart of the so-called Sunni
triangle, a reference to the Islamic group that comprises just 20 percent of
the Iraqi population but was treated far more favorably by the Hussein
regime than the majority Shiites. Analysts believe that the fear of losing
their privileged position in the post-Hussein era has prompted many Sunnis
to sympathize with the anti-U.S. opposition.

Most of the American military responses so far have focused on suspected
Hussein supporters. Operation Sidewinder, a weeklong military operation
through the area north of Baghdad, concluded a week ago, which resulted in
several hundred arrests. Sanchez said the operation was aimed at "former
Baath Party loyalists and other subversive elements that we suspect of
conducting attacks against U.S. forces."


NO FOREIGN FIGHTERS, IRAQIS SAY
Iraqis interviewed here dismissed two other claims by some U.S. officials --

that foreign "jihadists" from Syria, Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations are
involved, and that Iraqis are being being paid significant sums to take up
arms against the U.S. military.

"That's just American propaganda," said a former Iraqi general. "Iraqis are
fighting because they have real motivation. We are not mercenaries."

The role of Islamists is more difficult to evaluate. While some of the
fighters appear to hold hard-line Islamic views, it is less clear if they
are being actively encouraged by Islamic leaders who have expressed
opposition to the U.S. occupation.

Mouaid al-Ubaidi, the nation's best-known Sunni imam, frequently denounces
the American presence during sermons at the Abu Hanifa Mosque in Baghdad.
Like some other imams, he mentions "martyrdom" when referring to those who
have died in recent confrontations, while avoiding any direct praise of
attacks on Americans.

But al-Ubaidi and other imams still seem willing to give the Americans a
chance to fix Iraq's ills and to wait for the establishment of an Iraqi
ruling council, which is expected to be announced today.

"We are trying to calm people down, because this is not the right moment for
jihad," al-Ubaidi said in an interview. "The people are asking us for jihad,
but we have to convince them that we must wait to see whether the Americans
allow the Iraqis to govern. We have to wait and see. After that, we will
decide."



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