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Civil War? The War is Against al Qaeda
Hilary made a blitz of the Sunday t.v. shows today denigrating our troops as nothing more than “referees in a civil war.”
Well, here’s an interview that confounds that notion. The Long War Journal has a great interview up with Gen. Mustaffa, the “Lion of Arab Jabour”, the architect of the Concerned Citizens movement in Abu Jabour. Mustaffa has recruited 537 volunteers, and works closely with the 1st Battalion, 30th Regiment, 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division to secure the region. His Concerned Citizens turn over weapons caches, find and dismantle IEDs, man checkpoints, provide intelligence for US forces on al Qaeda in Iraq cells, and battle al Qaeda when attacked.
Clouding the “civil war” mantra, Arab Jabour is predominately Sunni. But Gen. Mustaffa is married to a Shia and has given one of his four sons a Shia name.
These Sunnis are not at war with the Shia. They are at war with al Qaeda:
LWJ: What motivated you to organize against al Qaeda in Iraq?
Mustaffa: They are criminals. There is no law, no order here. No system of government. We needed to organize against al Qaeda to protect ourselves.
LWJ: What has al Qaeda in Iraq done to the people of Arab Jabour?
Mustaffa: They killed our sons, ruined our infrastructure, displaced families, used sectarian violence against the people. They killed our electricians, our engineers, the technicians that run our water pumps and [water filtration] plant. They cooperated with foreign powers, with Syria and Iran, to kill us.
LWJ: Did al Qaeda in Iraq attempt to enforce Shariah?
Mustaffa: When al Qaeda announces its Islamic State, it forced people to obey their godless laws. The people of Arab Jabour would not submit to this. Al Qaeda are godless criminals.
LWJ: What support do your Concerned Citizens need from the central government to restore order to Arab Jabour?
Mustaffa: The central government hasn’t dealt with us. There is no provincial government. Every time we try we have been rebuffed. All of the help and support has been from the Coalition. With support like ammunition, we can destroy al Qaeda. We believe al Qaeda is 70 percent finished here. The central government does want to establish security here. They have an agenda with foreign powers.
LWJ: Do you believe that, given time, reconciliation is possible?
Mustaffa: We certainly hope so.