- The correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam in Baghdad met
with Captain 'Abu Hasan' of the Madinat ath-Thawrah area in the Iraqi capital,
a man who took part as an officer in the Allawi 'national guard' in the
US offensive on Fallujah. Captain Abu Hasan was involved in the fighting
just days ago as the commander of a detachment that fled from inside one
of the northern neighborhoods of the defiant city.
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- Mafkarat al-Islam: Why did you flee from Fallujah?
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- Abu Hasan: I think that is a very hard word. But my withdrawal
together with my comrades in arms was simply rationality itself. When I
saw that the most powerful army on earth was running away like dogs, and
I saw the armed men of the people of Fallujah and their allies shooting
at us from everywhere, we get an idea of what the Resistance means. It
seemed to me as if my comrades in arms and I were like little flies lighting
on the head of a camel.
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- When the Americans hear the Mujahideen cries of 'Allahu
akbar!' [God is greatest!] and 'Labbayk Allahumma, Labbayk!' [I am here,
oh God, I am here!] they shiver with fear even before they get to them,
from 300 meters away. Let me tell you something. Sometimes I used to rejoice
within myself when I saw the Mujahideen butchering and killing lots of
them [the Americans], because there's nobody who prefers an American over
an Iraqi or an Arab Muslim.
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- Before you ask me why I volunteered for the 'national
guard' let me tell you it was for the monetary compensation. I have a big
family. But I am remorseful now, having seen what I saw in Fallujah, for
the Mujahideen were not alone. We had to fight everything there from the
stray black dogs - I guess you heard about that - to the sounds of the
call to prayer and 'Allahu akbar!' By God, those are the equal of a thousand
fighters.
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- Brother, they [the Americans] don't know Arabic. The
don't know the meaning of the words uttered by the armed fighters. But
as soon as they hear the sounds, their bodies shake with fear and they
come to us and ask us what they mean, and we tell them, "It's the
Qur,an," or "it's the words of Muhammad, our Prophet." And
they come back with, "No, it's some kind of magic. You Arabs are famous
for your magic."
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- Even when they capture one of the fighters, they're afraid
to go near him even though he's unarmed. They tell us to go up to him.
I tell you, I never used to say my prayers, but now, after feeling the
fear that those words aroused in me and which I still keep hearing, I have
started to pray. And I'm remorseful for fighting against the Mujahideen,
because I'm convinced that God will punish me for that. The infidels had
brainwashed us.
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- Mafkarat al-Islam: Is there anything you would like to
tell us that the media have not reported but that you and your comrades
in arms witnessed?
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- Abu Hasan: Until the last day when I left, the US military
were bringing in priests and other Christian clergymen and even Jewish
ones to give sermons and reassurances for their troops, because five Americans
used their weapons to commit suicide after they went crazy or hysterical.
Every night I would challenge them, I would challenge them a thousand times
to remember that every night they would find ten or fifteen of their soldiers
butchered. There was an American woman correspondent, who tried to report
that news, but the US intelligence officers led her away and I don't know
what became of her.
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- Mafkarat al-Islam: So they are suffering heavy losses,
isn't that so?
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- Abu Hasan: Yes. They evacuate on average between 150
and 220 dead and wounded soldiers every day, and 80 percent of them are
dead.
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- Mafkarat al-Islam: Can you tell us where you were in
Fallujah and with what unit?
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- Abu Hasan: Sorry, I cannot. I have put my trust in you
so don't make me have to back out.
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- Mafkarat al-Islam: What advice would you give to your
comrades in arms in Fallujah?
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- Abu Hasan: To get out of Fallujah, because God is watching
what we do. By God, all the money that I got in my monthly salary in the
'national guard' went to the doctor or nothing. I started to get lots of
physical problems from where, I don't know. All my children are sick, now.
I think it's God's punishment.
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- By God, if I thought they would accept me as one of them,
I would go and fight with those armed Mujahideen but I'm a Shi'a and they
are Sunni, although I don't think they would disappoint me.
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