[lbo-talk] Al Qaida - agents of imperialism

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

On 11/21/06, James Heartfield <Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> Al-Qaida "planted information to encourage US invasion"
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,,1950055,00.html
>
> This interesting story comes from the informant Omar Nasiri, that the
> seizure of senior Al-Qaida officer Ibn Sheikh al-Libi, who was tortured in
> Egypt at the behest of the US in November 2001. According to Nasiri it was
> Libi who manufactured the story that Saddam Hussein had offered to train
> Al-Qaida in the use of chemical or biological weapons, which he repeated to
> his US interrogators. According to Nasiri, Libi was too well-trained to
> break under torture and clearly wanted the US to believe the story, which
> was of course, untrue. Still it was as Libi anticipated, seized upon by
> Colin Powell who repeated it as justification for the invasion of Iraq.
> According to Nasiri, this was thought of as a very cunning ploy by Al-Qaida
> to have dragged the US into Iraq, that they had already identified as the
> weakest of Arab states and prime territory for destabilisation.
>
> The depressing thing in all of this is that even though the US would have
> invaded anyway, Al-Qaida thought it was a good thing if they did. That is
> because their interests are not synonymous with those of the Iraqis. On the
> contrary, they view them with contempt (as was clear in Zarqawi's
> hierarchical estimate of Kurds, Shia and Sunnis), cannon fodder for a war
> THAT THEY HAVE NO INTENTION OF WINNING.
>
> Of course, this is not the first time that Al Qaida and its predecessors
> collaborated with imperialism. As late as 1993 Osama bin Laden was
> collaborating with the US over the deployment of the 'Afghan Arabs',
> veterans of the war with the Soviets against Serb forces in the former
> Yugoslavia. And in 1991, be it remembered, bin Laden's objection to the war
> against Saddam was not that it should be fought - on the contrary, he wanted
> it to be fought, alongside the US, only he objected to the siting of US
> troops in Saudi Arabia. That was when he approached the Sauds with a plan
> for an independent Arab battalion to defend the Kuwaiti autocrats against
> Iraq.

It looks like that Qaeda or Qaeda types are making themselves useful
to Washington in Lebanon:

<blockquote><http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3327718,00.html>
Al-Qaeda threatens to topple Lebanon gov't

Al-Hayat newspaper reports terror group has purportedly issued a
statement from Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon,
threatening to topple 'corrupt' Western-backed government

Associated Press
Published: 	11.13.06, 19:02

Al-Qaeda has purportedly issued a statement threatening to topple
Lebanon's "corrupt" Western-backed government, according to a
London-based Arabic newspaper Monday.

The al-Hayat newspaper reported that al-Qaeda issued the statement
from the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in northern Lebanon
.

"The organization has arrived in Lebanon and we will work on
destroying this corrupt government that receives orders from the
American administration," al-Hayat said, quoting the
statement.</blockquote>

<blockquote><http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L22910794&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-2>
Lebanon slaying deepens Christian political rift
Wed 22 Nov 2006 15:39:06 GMT

By Tom Perry

BEIRUT, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The slaying of a Lebanese Christian
minister has cornered leading Christian politician Michel Aoun, his
alliance with the Syria-backed opposition enraging many who blame
Damascus for the killing.

Presidential hopeful Aoun, leader of the largest Christian bloc in
parliament, was one of the first targets of anger after the killing of
Pierre Gemayel on Tuesday. Aoun posters were burned in Christian areas
and his offices were targeted.

"We let them hang Aoun's picture here. We thought, OK, he's a
Christian like us. But yesterday was enough. This doesn't happen to
Pierre Gemayel," said Annie Yacoubian, 26, in Christian east Beirut.
"They took them down and burned them."

Aoun was one of the loudest voices against Syrian involvement in
Lebanon during more than a decade of exile in France, where he fled
after losing a battle with Syrian forces at the end of the 1975-1990
civil war.

The withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon last year let the former
general return home, where he received a hero's welcome from tens of
thousands of supporters.

But he made a political about-turn this year by striking an alliance
with Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran. That
put him at odds with the anti-Syrian majority including Lebanon's main
other Christian parties.

Gemayel's allies immediately blamed Syria for his killing -- the
fourth slaying of an anti-Syrian figure since Rafik al-Hariri was
killed in February 2005. Syria condemned the assassination.

"I don't think Aoun will come out of this looking good," Lebanese
commentator Michael Young said. "Aoun has already many people
questioning his strategy.

"DEAL WITH THE DEVIL"

"He still has his supporters. But whatever shows the Syrians or their
allies in a negative light doesn't make Aoun look good."

Aoun's alliance with Hezbollah and its ally Amal has provided the
Shi'ite-led opposition with a strong Christian seal of approval. Aoun
has joined Hezbollah in calling for a change of government.

"Aoun wants his special relationship with Hezbollah to give him the
non-Christian support necessary to be president," said historian Kamal
Salibi. "If he loses his street, he'll be much less use to Hezbollah."

But switching to the side of the anti-Syrian majority might not be an
option for the bespectacled politician. "If he switches allegiances,
who is going to make him president?" Salibi asked.

Lebanon's parliament is due to elect a new president some time before
the end of September. The post is reserved for a Maronite Christian in
Lebanon where government posts are allocated along religious lines.

Aoun, like other Lebanese leaders, called for calm after the
assassination. He was one of the immediate targets of rage.

Supporters of Gemayel's Phlange Party and Samir Geagea's Christian
Lebanese Forces tried to attack an office of Aoun's party in the
Christian town of Zahle. They were restrained by security forces and
calls for calm from their local leaders.

"Aoun has no morals. He's a traitor to Christians. He's making a deal
with the devil to reach the presidency," said Eliya Azzar, a Geagea
supporter in east Beirut.

Sitting in a square where Lebanese Forces and Phalange flags fluttered
from lampposts, he predicted clashes between Aoun supporters and other
Christians. Fighters loyal to Aoun and Geagea battled each other
towards the end of the civil war.

"You have lots of radicals in Christian areas. You have lots of gangs.
The assassination is the spark for coming clashes," he
said.</blockquote>

-- 
Yoshie
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