| Posted By Nicola Nasser* June
3, 2008
Addouri Outlines Anti-U.S. Strategy, Tactics of Resistance
For the first
time since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in April 2003, the
deputy of Saddam Hussein, the late President of Iraq, Izzat
Ibrahim Addouri has resurfaced, despite a $10 million
U.S. bounty on his head, in a lengthy interview with
Abdel-Azim Manaf, the editor-in-chief of the Egyptian
newspaper Al-Mawqif Al-Arabi, not a mainstream, on May 26 to
lay out the strategy and tactics of the Iraqi resistance led
by the former ruling party, Al-Baath. Addouri’s resurface
and the resistance strategy he has laid out represent a
direct challenge to the
U.S. occupying
power.
Manaf told The
Associated Press (AP) he interviewed addouri “on the
battlefield.” The “dialogue” was conducted “with a commander
in his lion’s den and among his soldiers,” in the “war zone”
and on the “combat field while weapons were talking,” Manaf
said in his introduction. Addouri spoke in his capacity as
“the Supreme Commander of the Jihad and Liberation Front,
the Pan-Arab Secretary General of the Al-Baath Arab
Socialist Party and the Secretary of Iraq Region,” the
Egyptian editor added.
The AP said
“Addouri is believed to play an important role in financing”
the resistance, “though little is known about how directly
he leads fighters on the ground.” However the U.S. occupying
power, as well as Iran and the Iranian-allied regime
Washington brought about in Baghdad after the occupation,
have been keen to downplay the role played by Addouri and
his party in the national resistance and instead highlight
the marginal role played by Al-Qaeda, which was brought into
Iraq for the first time ever thanks to U.S., and other
Islamists.
If history
could illuminate current events, Addouri’s reference to this
“blackout” media policy is vindicated by the precedent of
the U.S. – British planning for the coup that brought down
the Iranian leader Mohamed Musaddiq’s government in August
1953, which installed the Shah in power.
“One key
aspect of the plot was to portray the demonstrating mobs
(against Musaddiq, which was “a mercenary mob. It had no
ideology. The mob was paid for by American dollars.”) as
supporters of the Iranian Communist Party - Tudeh … As in
every other British and US military intervention until the
collapse of the USSR, the ‘communist threat’ scenario was
deployed as the Official Story … The real threat of
nationalism (and dirtier aims like protecting oil profits)
were downplayed or removed from the picture presented to the
public.” [Mark Curtis, “Web of Deciet,” Vintage,
2003] In
Iraq, the U.S.
propaganda machine has only replaced the “communist threat”
by that of Al-Qaeda.
Manaf, in his
introduction, noted how much Addouri was a dedicated
religious man, very well versed in Islamic theology and Arab
history, and familiar with Sufism. His Arab and Islamic
culture was reflected extensively in his answers, which were
full of quotations from the Holy Quarn and the sayings of
historic Arab and Muslim leaders, a fact that makes the
translation of his interview into English an impossible
mission sometimes.
Addouri
identified Al-Baath as a “revolutionary organization, a
brave and innovative leadership, an armed revolutionary
Jihadist organization; it represents a fearless army and
glorious armed forces.”
Denying media
reports about his ill health (born July 1, 1942), Addouri
confirmed that, “I am in good health and at the height of
the Jihad spirit,” adding that, “today, I believe I am
immigrating to God and His Prophet,” and “left the world,
myself and its fortunes behind my back” to be totally
dedicated to and “garrisoned for God and for His Sake” until
“either victory or martyrdom.”
Three Chapters
of Resistance
“Our
resistance and battle with the (U.S.)
occupier is not new,” Addouri said. “It started during the
early years of Al-Baath formation to expand and deepen after
the glorious Tammuz (July) revolution of 1968 … Prior to
2003, the imperialist enemy used local forces from Iraq, and
the (Arab) nation sometimes; other times it used regional
powers to fight us on its behalf. When its local and
regional instruments failed to stop the Pan-Arab renaissance
march of Iraq, the U.S. enemy directly entered the field of
struggle and combat, amassed great powers, and led the
invasion and occupation by itself.”
He identified
three stages of the Iraqi resistance to the U.S.-led
invasion and occupation. “The first chapter was the official
showdown, when the regular formations of the brave armed
forces stood up to the
U.S. invasion;
then the launch of the popular confrontation against the
invasion, which inter-wined with this chapter. The popular,
official and military integration occurred immediately and
the people’s war of liberation started during the first week
of the invasion, as was planned by the leadership and
according to its strategy.”
During this
second chapter of the resistance formations from the civil
organizations of the party, Fedayeen Saddam and volunteers
took part in carrying our “martyrdom operations.” The
“glorious women of
Iraq
participated in the first formations of the popular
resistance.” Some of those women carried out “martyrdom
operations, the first of which was the heroic operation
carried out by two women in Baghdad on the third day of the
occupation; another operation was carried out by a glorious
Iraqi woman in Al-Nassiriyah south of Iraq.”
The “third
chapter is sustaining the resistance and continuing the
battle until the liberation of
Iraq.”
Addouri said
that during the occupation more than one million and three
hundred thousand Iraqis fell martyrs, and “so far the number
of Al-Baath martyrs in this battle amounts to one hundred
and twenty thousand.”
He sees “this
historic decisive showdown,” which he described as “the holy
battle,” as the “fate and the responsibility of Al-Baath as
much as it is the responsibility of the great people of Iraq
and its Jihadist national, Pan-Arab and Islamic powers, and
the free people of our (Arab) nation and humanity as a
whole,” all who were “targeted by the invasion.”
Ready to
Negotiate
U.S. Withdrawal
Addouri
sounded definitely confident of victory and reiterated that
the U.S.-led occupation has already been defeated, and “in
despair is looking for an exit.” The resistance “has
destroyed the alliance of evil, the parties of which are
escaping one after another. Only (U.S. President George W.)
Bush remains blundering in his debacle,” he said.
Replying to
questions about the truth in media reports that there were
“contacts between you and the Americans,” whether he made
any “direct or indirect contact with official U.S.
authorities,” whether “you are willing to negotiate with the
Americans” and if the answer was positive “what are your
negotiating terms,” “would you lead the negotiations
personally” or would authorize others to negotiate, would
such negotiations be bilateral (between Al-Baath and the
U.S.) or in the name of the resistance “front,” and whether
he was sure that the yield of the negotiations would
correspond to the real weight of the resistance on the
ground, “as the saying goes, you cannot reach at the
negotiating table farther than your artillery can reach,”
Addouri said:
“Friends and
foes” are very well aware of our strategy, which was made
public by the media; “Al-Baath doesn’t negotiate with
anybody at all if they don’t recognize this strategy
beforehand, and will negotiate neither with
America nor
with intermediaries or friends except on this basis. If the
enemy recognized this strategy we will sit with them
directly, negotiate with them, and help them exit our
country without loosing face and will facilitate their exit.
Prior to this recognition, there are no negotiations with
the occupying enemy.”
“Al-Baath will
meet with whoever it decides to meet, except with the
Zionist entity (Israel) and the government of collaborators
in the Green Zone … We will be happy when the enemy is
convinced of its defeat, accepts our strategy, sits with us
to negotiate a program for its implementation,” he added.
Addouri
detailed his strategy, indicating that “any negotiations
with the invaders without it represents a desertion and
treason, and is refused by all national, Pan-Arab and
Islamic factions of the resistance.”
(1) An
official pronounced recognition of the armed and unarmed
national resistance, including all its factions and
(political) parties, as the sole legitimate representative
of the people of
Iraq.
(2) An
official declaration of unconditional withdrawal from
Iraq by the
U.S. leadership.
(3) Declaring
null and void all the political and legislative
institutions, as well as all the laws and legislations
issued by them, since the occupation, with the
deBaathization law in the forefront, and compensating all
who were adversely affected by them.
(4) A stop to
raids, prosecutions, arrests, killings and displacement.
(5) Release of
all prisoners of war (POWs), prisoners and detainees without
exception and compensating all for their physical and
psychological damage.
(6)
Reinstating the army and the national security forces in
service in accordance with their pre-occupation laws and
regulations, and compensating all who were adversely
affected by dissolving them.
(7) A pledge
to compensate
Iraq for all
the material and moral losses it incurred because of the
occupation.
Iraqi Tactics
of Guerrilla War
Addouri
detailed his concept of “the people’s war of liberation and
the guerilla war,” advised the resistance fighters to
“adhere to the principles and rules” of this kind of war and
listed fifteen “most effective” tactics to hurt the enemy.
First, he said, “appear quickly behind, in front and on the
sides of the enemy as dictated by the nature of the place,
time, climate of the operation, and the type and nature of
the target, then hit quickly and disappear quickly before
the enemy could have time to react.”
Second, “In
planning, implementing and selecting of the target take care
to hit a kill in the enemy,” he added. Third, “your weapon
is your life, so take care to keep it always ready and away
from the eyes of the enemy and its spies.” Four, “protect
the security of information … as a red line or a holy
matter” and trust nobody “because trust is endless in
society.” Five, “the enemy is blind without spies, so exert
all efforts to disclose and liquidate them.” Six, “don’t be
taken away by your successive victories” or attracted by
“showing off” or loose your self-control by praise of your
heroic acts, to be a big mouth boasting of your success,
“noting that the enemy is hunting you at all times, so keep
discreet, disguised and vigilant.” Seven, “inflict the
biggest losses in the ranks of the enemy and decrease to the
minimum your own losses.” Eight “make your hands heavy at
the enemy during their rest hours” and make “no place safe”
for them and give them no time to recover.”
Nine, “the
supply lines are the enemy’s lifeline,” so “concentrate on
and cut” these lines. Ten, “concentrate on the enemy’s
bases, camps and headquarters day and night” to “break its
morale.” Eleven, “take your time to deal with high extreme
accuracy with the traitors and spies to avoid hurting
innocents.” Twelve, “expand the circle of monitoring,
following up and hunting the enemy … so it doesn’t surprise
us.” Thirteen, “sustain your traditional ties with your
relatives, neighbors, neighborhood and friends and make
these ties deeper and more intimate, but don’t make any of
them feel you have a mission they don’t understand” and
“help them to overcome the details of daily life hardships,
which are so many nowadays” so they will protect you when in
trouble and don’t hand you over to the enemy; they are “your
safe armor and honest cover.”
Fourteen, “let
belief in God … be our strong starting point.” Fifteen,
“fight for the sake of God the enemies of God … until the
tyrant … invaders are defeated, until the clear-cut victory,
the liberation of the homeland, and raising the flag of
‘There Is No God but The God’ and bringing back the ‘Flag of
God Is the Greatest’ to fly in Iraq skies,” Addouri
confirmed.
Other Excerpts:
Manaf: It is
noted that the Iraqi resistance started immediately after
the desecration of the
Iraq land by
the U.S. forces. How could it (the resistance) have started
and grown so quickly?
Addouri:
“Al-Baath Arab Socialist Party is the party of Iraq and the
Arab nation … It did not lay arms or stop fighting even for
an hour during day and night and its Jihadist march did not
stop any time … It wasn’t surprised by what happened, but
increased … its determination not to be exhausted to
relentlessly fight the invaders, their stooges and spies
whatever the sacrifices are and regardless of how long it
would take until full victory and the liberation of Iraq.”
Role of Army
Rank and File
Manaf: What
role the officers and ranks of the Iraqi armed forces play
in resistance?
Addouri:
Today they play “a heroic and decisive role in the march of
the resistance. In addition to their Jihadist fighting role
through their own formations … under the flag of the General
Command of the Armed Forces, they are, in accordance with
the guidance of the party’ (Al-Baath) leadership and the
General Command of the Armed Forces, dispersed into other
Jihad factions where they act as field commanders, planners,
technicians, makers and developers of most of the various
weapons of the resistance. They represent the soul of the
resistance and the secret of its innovations, accurate
performance and victories.”
New
‘Unprecedented’ Methods
Manaf: What
distinguishes the Iraqi resistance? How was it able to fight
the occupier in open areas?
Addouri:
“The resistance depended on the rules and principles of
people’s wars and the guerrilla war, after developing its
fighting methods and tactics, and was innovative in its
logistic and special operations. More important, it has
adapted the Iraqi environment to serve the people’s war.
Through practice, it has developed” those rules very much
“to move quickly” so to make “all the land is ours and all
the time is ours,” and to be up to date to what is new by
the enemy in order to “confront it with innovative new of
our own.”
“We have made
and innovated new ways and methods unprecedented in the
people’s wars of liberation, or even in the intelligence
sciences … I cannot go into more details for security
reasons; this is what kept the resistance” and its
leadership a “ mysterious secret, humiliating the enemy, its
collaborators and spies.”
Al-Baath Live
and … Recruiting
Manaf: Do your
resistance formations disperse equally to cover the area of
Iraq
now or they are concentrated in certain areas and
governorates?
Addouri:
“The party (Al-Baath) is more than half a century old in
Iraq … the organization of Al-Baath today … is stronger many
times than it was before the occupation … (I will not
elaborate) for reasons Al-Baath will speak out on time.”
Today the party disperses in all the cities, villages,
plains, mountains and deserts of
Iraq;
outside
Iraq it also
disperses among Iraqis wherever they are in every Arab or
foreign country.”
After the
occupation, despite “the strict conditions” for joining the
party and the deBaathization campaign, “thousands joined the
party, mostly young people aged between 16 and 25. Tens of
thousands of other Iraqis joined the resistance factions led
by Al-Baath.”
“In the end
the National, Pan-Arab and Islamic Front emerged; Al-Baath
is one of its basic pillars.”
No outside
Support
Manaf: The
Iraqi resistance is unique in the fact that it has no Arab,
regional or international incubator or support; how could
Al-Baath have provided for sustaining the resistance strong
and escalating?
Addouri:
“Our resistance … not only has no incubator outside the
borders of its country, but what is worse and more bitter is
that 99 percent of the influential world powers are either
directly involved with the enemy against it or sympathize
with the enemy; the one percent, which sympathizes with the
resistance, turned its back to it fearing its enemies, but
God provided for it and made it in no need for them. The
people of Iraq have provided their money and offspring; it
is an inexhaustible source.”
Manaf: Some
say the role of Al-Baath in the resistance is limited. What
is the size of the Al-Baath-led resistance?
Addouri:
“The occupying enemy and its regional and local partners
have launched a genocide against the Baathists, their
families, supporters and sympathizers. The collaborators’
constitution, which was prepared by the CIA, includes a Nazi
racist article stipulating the liquidation of Al-Baath as an
organization, thought and persons.”
“They targeted
by physical liquidation, destruction and displacement the
society of the party to the sixth neighbor.”
“One of the
most important and dangerous deBaathization methods, after
assassinations and physical liquidation of Baathists, is the
attempt to completely censor the role of Al-Baath on the
field as a resisting party and an armed resistance, and to
smear it image and role.”
“Had Al-Baath
not been the initiator of resistance since the first day of
the invasion and occupation, and had it not acted as if the
battle is its own and the cause is its own cause, the world
could not have seen the emergence of the strongest national
resistance immediately following the invasion.”
“The other
Jihad factions emerged after the resistance was deeply
rooted in confronting the occupier and undermining its
strategy; some of them were formed and started to act three
years after the occupation.
Operations
Documented on CDs
“The backbone”
of the “wide and strong base of Jihad today is the
resistance of Al-Baath and the national, Pan-Arab and
Islamic forces, with those members of the Higher Command of
Jihad and Liberation in the forefront, who cover the whole
area of Iraq,” from Um-Qaser in the south to Zakho in the
north and from al-Qaem in the west to Khanqeen and Mandali
in the east.
This
resistance is targeted by imposing a media, economic and
political siege on it to black out its military operations,
political activities and its destructive physical and
psychological influence on the soldiers of the occupying
power and its forces in
Iraq.
“Don’t you see
how the invaders, collaborators, traitors, spies, renegades
… despite their differences on many other things, have
agreed to censor its role and action and instead inflated …
the claim that it (the resistance) is terrorism?”
“I have
documented over the past five years on CDs thousands of
operations against the enemy … while the enemy is
highlighting the role of other groups, some of which was
directly formed or via intermediaries by the occupation
itself, and some other were formed by foreign powers hostile
to Iraq … who kill the people on ID” (Addouri explicitly was
referring to sectarian militias formed by Iran, but did not
mention Iran by name).
Pluralistic
Future System
Manaf: How do
you perceive the ongoing political process in
Iraq? What is
you comment on reported reconciliation conferences under the
auspices of the League of Arab States?
Addouri:
“No truce with those … and (we’ll) resist whatever entity is
established under occupation and in its service, first among
them the traitors’ government in the Green Zone.”
Manaf: Do you
have a strategy to administer the ruling of
Iraq after the
liberation?
Addouri:
Since the first day of the occupation Al-Baath called for
“the unity of the resistance as a historical necessity.”
With endeavor and persistence the party succeeded in forming
the “National, Pan-Arab and Islamic Front in 2005” then the
“Jihad and Liberation Front for armed factions (33 armed
resistance factions according to him) on the field in
September 2007. Both fronts are open to all anti-occupation
armed and political forces” to achieve more unity during the
liberation and post-liberation.
Al-Baath has
never adopted a one-party stance; it doesn’t “believe in and
refuses the one party theory.” However in the past, and “for
objective circumstances,” it offered “the theory of the
leading party.”
“Al-Baath
deeply and principally believes in the creation of a
pluralistic national democratic system in which power is
democratically rotated on the basis of ballot boxes through
free, transparent and fair elections.”
Every
deviation from this in the past “falls within the context of
the mistakes” of the Al-Baath march.
Committed to
Turkish Autonomy
Manaf: What is
your program to deal with the Kurdish question after
liberation?
Addouri:
“We are confident that our Kurdish people will not get their
national and cultural rights … except within the unity of …
a free, liberated, independent and prosperous Iraq … Al-Baath
Party will remain committed to the historical March 1970
statement and the 1974 Law of Autonomy as the basis for
dealing with the national, cultural and political rights of
our Kurdish people in Iraq.”
Manaf:
Recently the anti-U.S. occupation “Freedom and Justice Party
of Kurdistan” was publicly founded; what role do you expect
this party to play in
Kurdistan?
Addouri:
Two Kurdish parties were founded in the name of freedom and
justice party of Kurdistan, one chaired by Johar al-Hirki,
the son of a prominent Iraqi Kurdish family, which is loyal
to the people of Iraq, and the other chaired by the “brother
fighter” Arshad Zibari. Both have made a lot of sacrifices
from their families and tribes against the occupation and in
defense of Iraq freedom and independence.
“The birth of
both parties will contribute to strengthening and expanding
the Kurdish national movement against the occupation and its
stooges.”
* Nicola Nasser is a veteran Arab journalist based in Bir
Zeit, West Bank of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian
territories. |
