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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (21921)	5/12/2004 11:12:05 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

But AQ was NOT aligned with "the Kurds". Ansar al-Islam is the Iraqi branch of AQ. It's chief operative has been AQ member Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the fellow who took credit for beheading Nick Berg. He also ordered the assassination of an American AID official in Amman Jordan back before the war. Zarqawi is a Jordanian himself, not Kurdish. Ansar basically seized control over a small part of SE Kurdistan and imposed itself on them. Once there it launched suicide attacks on the leadership of quasi-independent Kurdistan. While it had Kurdish members who'd been to Afghanistan for training and indoctrination, it also had many Arab members of various nationalities who also were veterans of Afghanistan. It didn't represent in any way the local Kurdish people in the area it controlled. At least 700 Ansar militants had established Taliban-like restrictions on about 30 villages here, forcing the local residents to practice a narrow interpretation of Islam that was alien to the moderate Muslim traditions practiced among most Kurds. .... Ansar's leaders praised Osama bin Laden and sheltered his so-called mujahideen, or holy warriors, that were run out of Afghanistan last year,..... All across the territory once held by Ansar al Islam, Kurds were busy reclaiming their religion. beliefnet.com