Tanzeem Qaedat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidain

Terrorism

A Profile of a Prominent Terrorist Organization: Tanzeem Qaedat Al Jihad Fee Bilad Al Rafidain

In 2004, according to ABC News, the Iraqi terrorist organization then known as Tawhid wal Jihad, or "One God and Holy War" group changed its name to become Tanzeem Qaedat Al Jihad Fee Bilad Al Rafidain, or the "Qaeda Organization of Jihad in Iraq." This pro-jihad pan-Islamic militant organization based in Iraq did so to more explicitly pledge its long-standing ideological allegiance to the Afghanistan-based terrorist organization known as al- Qaeda. The name change indicated the increasing solidarity between these two terrorist cells, as well as confirmed the well-known unity that already existed between the two groups' leaders.

Of course, al-Qaeda is lead by the man who is believed to be the central intelligence behind the 2001 terrorist attacks upon the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the now infamous Osama bin Laden. The statement regarding the Iraqi group's name change was posted on the also renamed 'Tanzeem Qaedat Al Jihad Fee Bilad Al Rafidain' Internet site. The choice of such venues to disseminate its publicity shows the group's skillful use of the media and modern technology. The Iraqi terrorist group, like al-Qaeda, has a high level of technical 'connectedness' to the larger terrorist and Islamic world, and is sophisticated in its grasp of computers and its use of contemporary technology to generate interest and buzz in its activities, via the World Wide Web. "In an Internet statement ... Tawhid wal Jihad declared loyalty to al-Qaeda - the group's first public admission of ties to the network behind the September 11 attacks on the United States." (ABC News, 2004)

The Iraqi terrorist group is led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi is a Jordanian-born Sunni militant long said to have personal and organizational ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. Zarqawi was long suspected of organizing terrorist attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and providing the "financial and material support" for the assassination of a U.S. diplomat. Also, his organization was previously linked to acts of terrorism, including conducting the training of terrorist operatives, leading terrorist cells of other militant groups, facilitating the transport of terrorists across borders, and was cited in the international press as a suspect in the bombing of the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad." ("Jamaat al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad," Global Security.org, 2004) An open letter between Osama bin Laden and Zarqawi read: "even if our bodies are far apart, the distance between our hearts is close." ("Text," Global Security.org, 2003)

The open letter indicated the level of solidarity and also the similarity of terrorist techniques between Iraqi terrorist groups and terrorist groups based outside of Iraq, beginning with Zarqawi's arranged training for Osama bin Laden's terrorists at al-Qaida camps. While Zarqawi was in Pakistan, he made contact with al-Qaida to train Jordanian terrorists. After returning to Afghanistan in 2000, he oversaw a terrorist training camp. One of Zarqawi's specialties was his instruction in the use of poisons. When the American-led coalition ousted the Taliban, the Zarqawi network helped establish another poison and small explosive training center camp, and located in northeastern Iraq. ("Jamaat al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad," Global Security.org, 2004)

The leadership of both conjoined terrorist groups shows the national diversity of the leaders of terrorist organizations of the Muslim world, as Osama bin Laden is a Saudi, while a Jordanian leads the Iraqi group, as well as the different techniques open to the groups, from bombs to poisons, to engage in acts of mass terror. In terms of its current choice of activities, the United States military has attributed some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide bombings and some hostage beheadings to Tanzeem Qaedat Al Jihad Fee Bilad Al Rafidain. The military also believes that the group has long used Fallujah as its key base and continues to do so, despite United States control and the attempts to instate a new Iraqi government. ("Jamaat al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad," Global Security.org, 2004)

The group now known as Tanzeem Qaedat Al Jihad Fee Bilad Al Rafidain has long used highly inflammatory ways of conveying its message and committing its acts of violence against innocent American civilians, most notably the beheading of a United States civilian. The image of twenty-six-year-old Nicholas Berg was one of the most shocking images to emerge from the Iraq conflict. The group released the video entitled: "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American." The videotape showed Berg "kneeling on the floor" as one of the masked men read a statement saying the American would be killed in response to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghurayb prison and depicted Berg's execution in graphic detail. ("Jamaat al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad." Global Security.org, 2004)

Predict future actions of the selected group

The taking of American civilians and other civilians of nationalities from relief organizations, or working as defense contractors -- although greater precautions have been taken since the execution of Berg -- cannot be ruled out as a potential threat. Nor can the use of poisons, even though no known efforts have been made to use poison on a mass scale in the same fashion as explosives. Also, ventures on the part of the group into the West and Europe seem likely, given the fear stirred up by the recent British bombings on that nation's extensive public transportation network, during the busiest rush hour commuting time in England. Zarqawi's group's deployment of terrorism is not confined to the Middle East. "Zarqawi and his network have plotted terrorist actions against countries including France, Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia. According to detainees Abu Atia, who graduated from Zarqawi's terrorist camp in Afghanistan, tasked at least nine North African extremists in 2001 to travel to Europe to conduct poison and explosive attacks." ("Jamaat al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad." Global Security.org, 2004) In Iraq, approximately 80% of all attacks occur in Sunni-dominated central Iraq. ("Iraqi Insurgency," Global Security.org, 2004)

The network of the group, however, may be increasing its international reach. Haroon Rashid Aswat, the same British-born Muslim of Indian descent, believed to be a mastermind of the London bombings, are linked by United States counter-terrorist experts "directly to Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical cleric from a London mosque who is now on trial in Britain for possessing al-Qaida literature and inciting the killing of Jews and other non-Muslims," suggesting that Aswat may have trained at an Oregon-based al-Qaida training camp, run under the guidance of others who are members of the network, including Zarqawi's, and thus implying that a "global conspiracy" of terrorist training may stretch from Afghanistan to Iraq, to England, to America. (Mendenhall, 2005)

Recommended anti-and counter-terrorist activities specified to the group

The guiding strategy of federal law enforcement agencies for confronting terrorism in the United States until quite recently in the country's history has been counter-terrorism, a defensive military strategy consisting of gathering intelligence, maintaining operational security, and applying directed force to selectively capture or kill opponents and sworn enemies of the United States. Counter-terrorism is a strategy of repression or suppression. (Armond, 1997) In such a light, the leaders of the targeted terrorist cell by Zarqawi could be infiltrated with United States operatives, and the core operatives of the group itself could be carefully tracked and apprehended.

Anti-terrorism is a more expansive strategy of democratic social and political change by non-violent means, such as the continuing attempt to establish a democratic government in Iraq. Thus, anti-terrorism is not a mutually exclusive strategy to counter-terrorism. The goal of anti-terrorism is to reduce the perceived need for the level of violence in local populations "sufficiently so that normal means of social and political conflict resolution can come into play," and to seem more desirable than the use of violence. (Armond, 1997)