Former Saddam Officers Dominate ISIS Ranks: US Recruits?

by Stephen Lendman

Global Research.ca reported former US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) head/retired Lt. General Michael Flynn citing official US documents telling Al Jazeera creating ISIS was “a willful (Obama administration) decision.”

A strategic one serving US interests. Its insurgents aren’t an independent entity or enemy to be destroyed. The so-called war on ISIS is a complete fabrication - as phony as America’s “war on terror.”

Washington ignores Security Council Resolution 2178 (September 2014) calling on member states to “suppress the recruiting, organizing, transporting, equipping and financing of foreign terrorist fighters” (ISIS and related groups). It does precisely the opposite.

Strategic aims include creating a cauldron of regional violence and instability, toppling Syria’s Assad, replacing his government with pro-Western stooges, mainly benefitting Washington and Israel.

A declassified 2012 report said “there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality in Eastern Syria, and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime” and replace it.

Previous articles by this writer and others called ISIS/ISIL/IS a US creation. Recruits are trained in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan. US special forces and CIA operatives are involved.

IS and other takfiri terrorists are recruited from dozens of countries - trained, armed, funded, directed and used as US foot soldiers wherever they’re deployed.

The US public is willfully deceived to believe otherwise. Media scoundrels march in lockstep proliferating the Big Lie ad nauseam.

It bears repeating: IS, Al Qaeda, the Nusra Front et al are US allies, not enemies - used as American proxies against its real enemies, independent governments Washington wants toppled, waging endless wars of aggression to achieve its objectives.

On August 8, AP News headlined “IS top command dominated by ex-officers in Saddam’s army,” according to former officers in his military and intelligence services.

“The experience they bring is a major reason for the group's victories in overrunning large parts of Iraq and Syria,” said AP. “The officers gave IS the organization and discipline it needed to weld together jihadi fighters drawn from across the globe, integrating terror tactics like suicide bombings with military operations.”

AP left unexplained America’s role in creating IS to serve its interests. Are former Saddam officers US recruits? Why enlist foot soldiers without leaders - experienced military and intelligence personnel to direct their activities.

According to AP’s report, they likely came from places like the Pentagon Bucca prison camp. It held up to 20,000 Iraqi prisoners - fertile recruiting ground.

It was “a significant incubator for the Islamic State group, bringing militants like (former Saddam army major Saud Mohsen Hassan) into contact with (his) former…officers, including members of special forces, the elite Republican Guard and the paramilitary force called Fedayeen,” said AP.

They dominate IS leadership, it added - including as governors in areas they control, besides heading military operations. Their numbers include up to 160 “mostly mid-and senior-level” operatives.

They’re Sunnis from Anbar province, Mosul and Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit, according to Iraqi Brig. General Abdul-Wahhab al-Saadi.

Many have “close tribal links to or are the sons of tribal leaders in their regions…” Washington likely recruited them from prison camps like Bucca and other convenient sources

Rank-and-file elements are easy to enlist and train. Their effectiveness depends on officers with command experience leading them. Saddam’s former ranks and others like them appear fertile sources.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.