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A militant group linked to al-Qaeda has said it carried out four connected suicide bombings in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday that left scores dead.
The Islamic State of Iraq posted the claim on a website used by militants, news agencies reported on Thursday.
The attacks on government-run buildings in Baghdad killed at least 127 people and wounded 400, according to police sources.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Baghdad on Thursday.
BURNETT: Well, he's not a tactical commander or anything like that. What the U.S. military authorities say about Mashadani is that, last year, he created a bogus-front organization called the Islamic State of Iraq, which has its own Web site. And along with the front organization, they say that Mashadani created a fictitious leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, a guy named Umar al-Baghdadi who's actually an actor and not part of the organization at all.
Bergner said that al-Mashhadani and al-Masri had used an Iraqi actor to put a local stamp on their foreign-run organization, by co-founding "a virtual organization in cyberspace called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006."
In Internet postings, the Islamic State of Iraq has identified its leader as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, a name indicating Iraqi origin, with the Egyptian al-Masri as minister of war. There are no known photos of al-Baghdadi.
Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al-Baghdadi is a "fictional role" created by al-Masri and that an actor with an Iraqi accent is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Web.
"In his words, the Islamic State of Iraq is a front organization that masks the foreign influence and leadership within al-Qaida in Iraq in an attempt to put an Iraqi face on the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq," Bergner said.
Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi (ابو عبدالله الراشد البغدادي) (also known as Abu Hamza al-Baghdadi and Abu Omar al-Qurashi al-Baghdadi)[1][2] is the nom de guerre of the person purported to be the leader (or emir) of the former Mujahideen Shura Council (also known as the "Council of Freedom Fighters,"[3] the "Consultative Council of Mujahedeen,"[2] and the "Council of Holy Warriors"),[4] an umbrella organization composed of eight groups that oppose the United States' military presence in Iraq, and purported to be the head of the Islamic State of Iraq.
The Interior Ministry of Iraq claimed that al-Baghdadi was captured in Baghdad on March 9, 2007,[5] but it was later said that the person in question was not al-Baghdadi.[6] On May 3, 2007, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said that al-Baghdadi was killed by American and Iraqi forces north of Baghdad.[7] However, in July 2007, the U.S. military reported that al-Baghdadi never actually existed.[8] The detainee identified as Khaled al-Mashhadani, a self-proclaimed intermediary to Osama bin Laden, claimed that al-Baghdadi was a fictional character created to give an Iraqi face to a foreign-run terror group, and that statements attributed to al-Baghdadi were actually read by an Iraqi actor.[9]
Originally posted by GovtFlu
The Islamic State of Iraq?.. those dudes are bogus, literally.
According to the US military "ISI" is "a virtual organization in cyberspace.." and "..an actor with an Iraqi accent is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Web"
"To make their fictional leader appear credible, al-Masri swore allegiance to al-Baghdadi and pledged to obey him, which was essentially swearing allegiance to himsef..."
Sounds asinine enough to be the CIA... Clowns In Action
www.foxnews.com...
BAGHDAD — The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella terror group affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq, is led by a fictional character designed to mask that group's foreign influence, a captured terror leader has revealed to U.S. interrogators.
Originally posted by Someone336
Where is the real al-Qaeda?
Originally posted by mmiichael
Originally posted by GovtFlu
The Islamic State of Iraq?.. those dudes are bogus, literally.
According to the US military "ISI" is "a virtual organization in cyberspace.." and "..an actor with an Iraqi accent is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Web"
"To make their fictional leader appear credible, al-Masri swore allegiance to al-Baghdadi and pledged to obey him, which was essentially swearing allegiance to himsef..."
Sounds asinine enough to be the CIA... Clowns In Action
www.foxnews.com...
BAGHDAD — The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella terror group affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq, is led by a fictional character designed to mask that group's foreign influence, a captured terror leader has revealed to U.S. interrogators.
Maybe the people who operate al-Qaida are smart enough not to be easily detected by functioning as a virtual operation. And maybe they know more about themselves than Wikipedia, Fox News, guys on conspiracy forums, etc.
Originally posted by GovtFlu
Originally posted by mmiichael
Originally posted by GovtFlu
Or maybe the people who operate al-qaida are computer nerds in Langley Va... or jenna bushs alter ego.. or we just don't know.
Originally posted by GovtFlu
Ah yes, trust the experts.. like the ones who read through papers, interfaced and knew iraq had WMDs.
The biggest prize at Iraq's second oil fields auction has been won by a consortium led by a Russian private oil giant.
Lukoil and Norway's Statoil ASA were awarded rights to develop the 12.9 billion barrel West Qurna Phase 2 field in the Basra region.
Originally posted by mmiichael
Originally posted by GovtFlu
Ah yes, trust the experts.. like the ones who read through papers, interfaced and knew iraq had WMDs.
By the way there were WMDs but not ones the govt wanted to talk about. Sensitive area of international warfare blocked from the media. Saddam Hussein had labs working on biological warfare. Lethal viruses, something similar to bubonic plague, a lot of nasty stuff rarely discussed in the press. His patrons at the time, the Russians, had a convoy transport the materials and equipment to Syria just a week before the invasion.
Originally posted by merkava
Do you really not think that the war in iraq was for oil and to make israel feel cosy in ME? Seriously?
Originally posted by mmiichael
Originally posted by merkava
Do you really not think that the war in iraq was for oil and to make israel feel cosy in ME? Seriously?
King Abdullah has been deciding what the US and Britain do in the region since the 90s, King Fahd before him. No maybes on this statement.
Saddam Hussein has paid out thousands of dollars to families of Palestinians killed in fighting with Israel.
Relatives of at least one suicide attacker as well as other militants and civilians gathered in a hall in Gaza City to receive cheques.
"Iraq and Palestine are in one trench. Saddam is a hero," read a banner over a picture of the Iraqi leader and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the ceremony.
With war looming in the Middle East, Palestinian speakers condemned the United States and Israel, which dismissed the ceremony as support for terrorism. Thursday, 13 March, 2003, 11:43 GMT
Originally posted by merkava
And the funny thing is its from King abdullahs country where most of the Big terrorists and terrorist funding comes from.90% of all the terrorists around this globe are funded by saudis.
-Osama the king terrorists was form saudi.
-Most of the 9/11 hijackers were from saudi.
-The worlds most strickest sharia is found in saudi.
-Wahabi extremist ideology originates from saudi.
So it would have made more sense that instead of attacking afghanistan or iraq, US should have dropped the BOMB on Saudi and democrize it straight after 9/11.
Or was israel getting scared of this which iran is doing at the moment?
Afghanistan you won’t comprehend, but much of it has to do with the Taliban, reneged agreements on security for a pipeline to the West, and many other factors. The hope is there actually will be an elected stable govt in Afghanistan one day that represents the people of the country.
Originally posted by mmiichael
Originally posted by merkava
You seem to want to reduce the complexities of political science and international relations to the level of a video game.
If the US bombed every place they were in conflict with there would either be no Russia, Korea, etc – or no US.
The Saudi component isn’t simply that they are the Bad Guys. Abdullah and his family contingency support terrorism out of cultural religious beliefs. The last thing they want is the US seriously damaged. They’d be toast 5 minutes after.
By 2003 the whole world, including Europe, the Saudis, even Iran agreed - it was time for him to go.
Other factors, primarily in compromising Iran which is actively destabilizing the region.
Try reading some real material by knowledgeable people on what’s going on in the Middle East beyond dopey conspiracy sites. You’ll be heartbroken to find the whole world does not revolve around the US-Israeli connection.