First we saw the Iraqi’s turn against al-Qaeda and now we have the founder of one of the biggest terrorist organizations in Iraq, The Islamic Army, telling an interviewer that if America leaves it will be a disaster for Iraq.
Abu-Azzam Al-Tamimi says at one point that yes, they did cooperate with al-Qaeda but when they “deviated from the legitimate path” they distanced themselves from the organization and began fighting them.
Transcript:
Interviewer: Is there significant Iranian intervention?
Abu ‘Azzam Al-Tamimi: Of course.
Interviewer: In what way?
Abu ‘Azzam Al-Tamimi: Iran intervenes in every single detail in Iraq.
Interviewer: Whom does it support?Abu ‘Azzam Al-Tamimi: Everybody – it works with the government, with the opponents of the government, with the opponents of the government’s opponents, with Al-Qaeda, with the enemies of Al-Qaeda, with the militias, with the enemies of the militias… Iran spreads its investments everywhere – with the Shiites, the Sunnis, and the Kurds.
Interviewer: Al-Qaeda is a Sunni organization, which claims to be fighting those they call “the Rafidites” – how can it possibly cooperate with the Iranians?
Abu ‘Azzam Al-Tamimi: Of course it can. How else can you explain the fact that a large number of Al-Qaeda’s leaders live in Tehran? How else can you explain the fact that the Al-Qaeda organization targets all the countries in the world – from America to Indonesia, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, and many others – and the only country absent from this list is Iran, even though it is located between Al-Qaeda’s two jaws – Iraq and Afghanistan? Of course there is a very strong alliance between Al-Qaeda and Iran. There is a lot of evidence of this alliance. Iran invests in everybody in order to defend itself and its interests, and this may be legitimate, because the Iranian political regime is being targeted by…
Interviewer: What does Al-Qaeda stand to gain from its alliance with the Iranians?
Abu ‘Azzam Al-Tamimi: It gets a safe haven for its leaders. No other country can give refuge to Al-Qaeda’s leaders or cadres. [Iran] provides Al-Qaeda with bases and financing. Al-Qaeda is broke. It has no money now. The sources of finances in the Gulf have been bled almost completely dry. So who finances them? Iran.
Abu ‘Azzam Al-Tamimi: Personally, I do not deem the American presence in Iraq a negative thing anymore. I believe an American withdrawal from Iraq at this point would spell disaster, because Iraq would then fall completely under Iranian influence – perhaps not only Iraq, but the entire region.
Here is the video of the interview:
Sigh….
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