U.S. profiles of al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq show the terror group as a complex and well-financed operation that has survivedconstant attacks from U.S. forces.
The U.S. command in Baghdad compiled the profiles of captured and killed al-Qaeda in Iraq starting in 2006 based on interrogations and other intelligence. The command said the list of such high-value al-Qaeda members provides “clear evidence of the systematic dismantling of the AQI network.” The name of the group is “al-Qaeda in Iraq.”
But the Pentagon acknowledged last week that al-Qaeda in Iraq has been able to rejuvenate a cadre of new leaders, after last summer’s killing of founder Abu Musab Zarqawi and other lieutenants.
“There are new leaders emerging, yes,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero said.
Continued al-Qaeda attacks seem to mean that jobs done by the captured or killed terrorists are now performed by replacements under Zarqawi’s successor, Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Just last week, at least seven suicide bombers killed over 200 Iraqis in attacks the United States blamed on al-Qaeda.
The command’s profiles of al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders show a grassroots organization made up of emirs who control towns and larger provinces. Below the emirs are cell leaders and facilitators who put the bombers on target. The organization is compartmentalized into finance, recruiting, weapons procurement, bomb-making, security and housing. U.S. officials believes it numbers about 2,000 operatives, most from outside Iraq.
A sampling of command profiles:
» Abu Taha al-Ithawi. He controlled a “well organized and equipped military group operating south of the Euphrates …. and conducting frequent” suicide bombings.
» Abu Fatimah al-Ani. Maintained direct contact with Masri and served as a liaison with allies in Syria who move foreign fighters into Iraq.
» Abu Mohammed al-Salamni. Served as emir of the town of Habiniyah, western Iraq, and worked with suppliers of weapons, housing and money.
» Khalid Mohammed.In charge of security in northern Iraq.
» Abu Shaybah al-Dawudi. An explosives expert who produced suicide vests and vehicles, and remote control devices that detonate improvised explosive devices.
The group’s complexity is one reason the U.S. command hasn’t stopped the flow of foreign suicide bombers from Syria to staging points around Iraq. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Mich., ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, told The Examiner the border is simply too long to control, and Iran and Syria do not mind foreign fighters passing through to Iraq.
“Iran and Syria believe a certain level of manageable instability may be good for them,” Hoekstra said. “It diverts attention away from their regimes. Right now there are a lot of suicide bombers going through there and keeping an uncomfortable environment in Iraq, that doesn’t bother Syria.”
