Most al-Qaeda terrorists cross into Iraq from Syria
Michael Bronner has a very interesting interview with "Abu Khalid," a terrorist from Lebanon who joined al-Qaeda to become a suicide bomber. Abu Khalid's Iraqi handlers decided that they already had enough suicide bombers, and sent him back to Lebanon to fundraise and recruit people with more high-level skills.
The interview sheds light on the role of foreign jihadists in Iraq and Afghanistan, and especially the rise of suicide bombing as a tactic in Afghanistan, where it was insignificant until 2005.
Money quote:
In the fall of 2007, U.S. Special Forces recovered a set of computer hard drives during a raid on an al-Qaeda in Iraq (A.Q.I.) [safehouse]...Surprisingly detailed A.Q.I. personnel records, covering a period from August 2006 to August 2007, revealed a highly professional, highly efficient smuggling operation that moved some 600 foreign fighters from 21 countries across the Syrian border and into the insurgency network in that short period alone. They made their way to war through the most banal of channels, many by air, connecting to Damascus through international airports in Europe or Egypt, then moving, like Abu Khalid, alongside the daily illicit cross-border traffic of cattle, cigarettes, cement, pharmaceuticals, diesel, guns, and gold that have been smugglers’ sustenance in the border region through peace and war before.
The interview sheds light on the role of foreign jihadists in Iraq and Afghanistan, and especially the rise of suicide bombing as a tactic in Afghanistan, where it was insignificant until 2005.
Money quote:
In the fall of 2007, U.S. Special Forces recovered a set of computer hard drives during a raid on an al-Qaeda in Iraq (A.Q.I.) [safehouse]...Surprisingly detailed A.Q.I. personnel records, covering a period from August 2006 to August 2007, revealed a highly professional, highly efficient smuggling operation that moved some 600 foreign fighters from 21 countries across the Syrian border and into the insurgency network in that short period alone. They made their way to war through the most banal of channels, many by air, connecting to Damascus through international airports in Europe or Egypt, then moving, like Abu Khalid, alongside the daily illicit cross-border traffic of cattle, cigarettes, cement, pharmaceuticals, diesel, guns, and gold that have been smugglers’ sustenance in the border region through peace and war before.
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