Thread: Emir of ISI

I found this fantastic blog of a current Hudson Institute scholar who appears to be very well versed in Islamic law and current affairs.

Here's his latest post on al-Baghdadi:

Al-Baghdadi’s Third Speech--Sounding Worried

The Al-Furqan Institute for Media Productions released Abu Omar al-Baghdadi’s third public speech yesterday as an audio file on several jihadist websites under the title ‘Say I Am Made Certain By My God’; the speech runs for a little under 22 minutes and the speaker’s voice sounds like the one we heard in the two earlier speeches that were attributed to al-Baghdadi.

Al-Baghdadi sounds like one big unhappy jihadist: his whole speech is a long rant against all those who are undermining him and the Al-Qaeda-led ‘Islamic State of Iraq’. He doesn’t sound like someone who’s winning, in fact he sounds embattled.

Al-Baghdadi is clearly responding to a growing campaign of criticism against him and his Islamic State of Iraq, most of it coming from other jihadist groups. But instead of being endearing and trying to calm tempers, al-Baghdadi lashes out and portrays this 'smear' campaign as one orchestrated by the enemies of the Islamic State such as the Saudi royal family and others "who have jealousy and malice in their hearts."

Al-Baghdadi finds the need to clearly spell out the doctrine of his faction, and seems to indicate that he must do so because his supporters are losing faith in him, and that this atmosphere of recriminations is drying up the sources of money and fighters. He is clearly alarmed that things are not looking good for his venture, and he poses a provocative question to the effect: "Where would you be without Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State?" seemingly directed against his detractors.

He lays out 19 tenets, most of which we already know about. The notable innovations are judging that Jews and Christians who live among Muslims are no longer protected as Dhimmis, and that the Sunnis who participated in the political process, specifically Tariq al-Hashemi's Islamic Party, are apostates and infidels, who are marked for death.

Here is my rough translation of most of the speech with some of my commentary and explanations; I've left out all the religious stuff such as Koranic references for the sake of expediency:

Read the rest at Talisman Gate بـاب الطلــسم: Al-Baghdadi’s Third Speech--Sounding Worried

I just wanted to link to these updates on the ISI. It seems like its creation has been an albatross to AQI thus far; hopefully, it will continue as such and not pan out in the opposite direction.

http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/war...tml#post365428

Talisman Gate بـاب الطلــسم: Al-Baghdadi Names Pseudonyms—for ministerial portfolios

Thursday, April 19, 2007
Al-Baghdadi Names Pseudonyms—for ministerial portfolios

The “Official Spokesman” for the Islamic State of Iraq released the names of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi’s cabinet today in a 5 minute video message sent out through the Al-Furqan Institute for Media Productions.

The list includes one foreigner (…possibly two) and that is Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, who was picked as Minister of War. Al-Muhajir is also Abu Musa’ab al-Zarqawi’s successor as the leader of Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia.

The emphasis in the list of 10 ministers is on Sunni tribal names, however, the absence of important Sunni tribes such as the Dulaim, Zoba’, Shammar, ‘Anizah and ‘Ubeid, as well as people belonging to important Sunni towns as Samarra and Tikrit, is very conspicuous to Iraqi eyes. Maybe the Islamic State of Iraq is sending a message through this list.

Only one member is seemingly identified by his real name: Mustafa al-‘Araji, Minister of Agriculture.

And one member seems to have been changed at the last minute: Abu ‘Uthman al-Tamimi (see below).

Here’s the list:

1-Sheikh Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Falahi, 1st Vizier (The Falahat are a minor Sunni tribe north of and within Baghdad)

2-Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, Minister of War (believed to be a non-Iraqi)

3-Professor Sheikh Abu ‘Uthman al-Tamimi, Minister of Religious Courts (Apparently the first choice that was read out by the “spokesman” was changed at the last minute, because a voice-over is done in someone else's voice with al-Tamimi’s name substituted for the first choice; the Bani Tamim are one of Iraq’s major tribes, and they are mostly Shi’a with important Sunni subsections. There are also Tamimis in Saudi Arabia—Muhammad bin Abdel-Wahhab, the founder of Wahhabism in the 18th century belonged to this tribe—so this fellow could be a non-Iraqi too. The first choice could have been Sheikh Abu Suleiman al-Uteibi, a Saudi, who was recently identified as the chief religious judge of the ISI; I have no idea why they would have changed it.)

4-Professor Abu Bakr al-Jebouri, Minister of Public Relations (The Jebouris are another of Iraq’s major tribes, with both Sunni and Shi’a subsections.)

5-Professor Abu Abdel-Jabbar al-Janabi, Minister of Public Security (80% of Janabis are minor Sunni, and the rest are Shi’a, and they are to be found to the south west of Baghdad.)

6-Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Mashhadani, Minister of Information (The Mashahidah are a minor Sunni tribe north of Baghdad, and I've speculated that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi himself is a Mashhadani.)

7-Sheikh Abu Abdel-Qadir al-‘Isawi, Minister of Martyrs and Prisoners Affairs (The Albu-‘Isa are a predominately Sunni tribe to the south west of Baghdad, across the Euphrates River, and their main concern is smuggling. There have been recent clashes between Al-Qaeda and the Albu-‘Isa.)

8-Engineer Abu Ahmad al-Janabi, Minister of Oil (Yet another Janabi…)

9-Professor Mustafa al-‘Araji, Minister of Agriculture and Fish Resources (The ‘Arajis are a Shi’a family descended from the Prophet Muhammad, yet they have an important Sunni offshoot in Mosul.)

10-Professor Doctor Abu ‘Abdallah al-Zaidi, Minister of Health (The Bani Zayd are mostly Sunnis, living between Musayyeb and Suweira.)

posted by Nibras Kazimi نبراس الكاظمي at 1:25 PM

Not a good week for the ISI. Their PR man is no longer, and unconfirmed reports by Iraqi officials claim the demise of the emir himself and the minister of war. Let's hope that these reports are confirmed to be true.

Originally Posted by Shek

Not a good week for the ISI. Their PR man is no longer, and unconfirmed reports by Iraqi officials claim the demise of the emir himself and the minister of war. Let's hope that these reports are confirmed to be true.

Major,I'm getting a "Page not found" error when I try this link.Do you need to have a subscription or is it just "fat-fingering" on my part?

Originally Posted by Shamus

Major,I'm getting a "Page not found" error when I try this link.Do you need to have a subscription or is it just "fat-fingering" on my part?

Based on the link, it's looking like the NYT used a Reuters wire article and perhaps the permission time ran out for the NYT on the piece.

Can I answer yes even when I am unsure about the exact spelling? (English and German media seem to write those names differently.)

Originally Posted by Tarek Morgen

Can I answer yes even when I am unsure about the exact spelling? (English and German media seem to write those names differently.)

Tarek,
Sure - transliteration of Arabic is always tricky.

Originally Posted by Shek

Tarek,
Sure - transliteration of Arabic is always tricky.

True. I can hardly write my own name in Arabic.

Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi
أبو عمر البغدادي Emir

One more question, is it now certain that he exists? I remember some reports that captured insurgents told their captors that he was made up (like that "juba-sniper) for propaganda reasons. and if he does not really exist he can't be captured or killed.

And it would be usefule for Al-Qaeda & Co to have a leader (real or made up) who is clearly of Iraqi origins.

btw: The name al-Baghdadi, rather obviously refers to Baghdad. The "al" works (in this context) pretty similar to the German name-suffix "von".

Originally Posted by Tarek Morgen

One more question, is it now certain that he exists? I remember some reports that captured insurgents told their captors that he was made up (like that "juba-sniper) for propaganda reasons. and if he does not really exist he can't be captured or killed.

And it would be usefule for Al-Qaeda & Co to have a leader (real or made up) who is clearly of Iraqi origins.

btw: The name al-Baghdadi, rather obviously refers to Baghdad. The "al" works (in this context) pretty similar to the German name-suffix "von".

I don't think real names are used:
Al -Baghdadi was reportedly killed some time ago

Im wondering how come no one thought of him. How about Dubya or Cheny or Rumsfeld?
One was out of job sometime back and two others will be in a couple of months.