ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (30 page)

 71 
“I swear to God . . .” the sheikh told the
New York Times
: Edward Wong, “An Iraqi Tribal Chief Opposes the Jihadists, and Prays,”
New York Times
, March 3, 2007,
www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/world/middleeast/03sheik.html
.

 71 
He was assassinated by the jihadists: Alissa J. Rubin and Graham Bowley, “Bomb Kills Sunni Sheik Working With US in Iraq,”
New York Times
, September 13, 2007,
www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/world/middleeast/13cnd-iraq.html
.

 72 
The emir told him that while foreign occupiers: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 263.

 72 
The new strategy demanded confronting: Jason Burke,
The 9/11 Wars
(New York: Penguin, 2012), 267.

 72 
Petraeus and Marine Lieutenant General James Mattis: Burke,
The 9/11 Wars
, 265.

 73 
A mixture of soldiering and policing: Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Publication 3-24,
The Patraeus Doctrine: The Field Manual on Counterinsurgency Operations
, US Army, 2009.

 73 
In 2007 the US Government Accountability Office: Glenn Kessler, “Weapons Given to Iraq Are Missing,”
Washington Post
, August 6, 2007,
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/05/AR2007080501299.html
.

 73 
The US military’s solution was a partition: Burke,
The 9/11 Wars
, 271.

 74 
A military intelligence analysis: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 209.

 74 
Furthermore, the overwhelming cluster of attacks: Ibid.

 75 
If a detonated IED turned out to be a dud: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 210.

 75 
As they had done the prior year in Ramadi: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 370.

 75 
The group’s fallback base was in nearby Buhriz: Ibid.

 75 
Sergeant 1st Class Benjamin Hanner told the
Washington Post
: Joshua Partlow, “Troops in Diyala Face A Skilled, Flexible Foe,”
Washington Post
, April 22, 2007,
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/21/AR2007042101467_pf.html
.

 76 
Shawn McGuire, a staff sergeant recalled to Gordon and Trainor: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 375.

 77 
In an interview with the
Washington Post
: Jackie Spinner, “Marines Widen Their Net South of Baghdad,”
Washington Post
, November 28, 2004,
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16794-2004Nov27.html
.

 77 
After being handed a list of the top-ten AQI operatives: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 381.

 77 
In Ameriya, a neighborhood: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 384.

 78 
No doubt leery of seeing a replay: Ibid.

 78 
In a June 2010 Pentagon news briefing: Gen. Raymond Odierno, “DOD News Briefing with Gen. Odierno from the Pentagon,” US Department of Defense, June 4, 2010,
www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4632
.

 79 
In
Iraq After America
, Joel Rayburn recounts: Rayburn,
Iraq After America
, 124.

 80 
Several months before his death, he had conducted a Skype call: Interview with one of Jibouri’s interlocutors, November 2014.

 81 
Dr. Jaber al-Jabberi . . . told us: Interview with one of the author, August 2014.

CHAPTER 6

 83 
Not only had the internationally publicized and condemned torture: Alissa J. Rubin, “US Military Reforms Its Prisons in Iraq,”
New York Times
, June 1, 2008,
www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/world/africa/01iht-detain.4.13375130.html
.

 83 
According to one US military estimate: Interview with Joel Rayburn, October 2014.

 83 
Owing to the spike in military operations: Craig Whiteside, “Catch And Release in the Land of Two Rivers,” War on the Rocks, December 18, 2014,
warontherocks.com/2014/12/catch-and-release-in-the-land-of-two-rivers
.

 84 
In a PowerPoint presentation he prepared for CENTCOM: Major General D.M Stone, “Detainee Operations,” United States Marine Corps, PowerPoint presentation, November 2014.

 86 
A former ISIS member interviewed by the
Guardian
: Martin Chulov, “Isis: The Inside Story,”
The Guardian
, December 11, 2014,
www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/11/-sp-isis-the-inside-story
.

 86 
Abu Ahmed recounted: Ibid.

 87 
Craig Whiteside, a professor at the Naval War College: Whiteside, 2014.

 88 
Anthony Shadid, then a foreign correspondent for the
Washington Post
: Anthony Shadid, “In Iraq, Chaos Feared as US Closes Prison,”
Washington Post
, March 22, 2009,
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/21/AR2009032102255_pf.html
.

 89 
“It was easy to capture al-Qaeda people,” Rayburn told us.: Interview with one of the authors, October 2014.

 90 
No longer useful to al-Maliki: Burke,
The 9/11 Wars
, 430.

 90 
Conditions were especially grim in Diyala: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 591.

 90 
Such prejudicial justice didn’t apply to Shia prisoners: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 592.

 90 
Shadid interviewed Colonel Saad Abbas Mahmoud: Shadid, 2009.

 91 
The original plan for the Awakening: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 591.

 91 
The Iraqi agency tasked: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 593.

 91 
Moreover, al-Maliki showed little interest: Ibid.

 91 
Mullah Nadim Jibouri . . . claimed: Interview with one of the authors, November 2014.

 91 
The US assessment of his dictatorial tendencies: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 614.

 92 
Odierno, with good reason, saw: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 609.

 92 
He would need to form a government: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 617.

 93 
The following day, Iraq’s president: Rayburn,
Iraq After America
, 213–14.

 93 
Al-Maliki formed a government in 2010: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 620.

 93 
Odierno, for one, saw how flagrant manipulation: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 619.

 93 
Vice President Joseph Biden . . . is recorded: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 615.

 93 
“I know one guy . . .” Khedery told us.: Interview with one of the authors, November 2014; Ali Khedery, “Why We Stuck With Maliki—and Lost Iraq,”
Washington Post
, July 3, 2004,
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-we-stuck-with-maliki--and-lost-iraq/2014/07/03/0dd6a8a4-f7ec-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html
.

 94 
As much of the consequences of the surge: “Blowback Against Glenn Greenwald #1,” Anonymous Mugwump blog, May 25, 2013,
anonymousmugwump.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/blowback-against-glenn-greenwald-1.html

 94 
There was actually little debate: “Five Myths About ISIS,” Anonymous Mugwump blog, October 5, 2014,
anonymousmugwump.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/five-myths-about-isis.html
.

 94 
But al-Maliki didn’t: Gordon & Trainor,
The Endgame
, 673–674.

 96 
Al-Hashimi was allowed to fly off: Adrian Blomfield and Damien McElroy, “Iraq in Fresh Turmoil as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Orders Arrest of Vice President,”
The Telegraph
, December 19, 2011,
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/8966587/Iraq-in-fresh-turmoil-as-Prime-Minister-Nuri-al-Maliki-orders-arrest-of-vice-president.html
.

 96 
He remained in exile He later fled to Turkey: Associated Press in Baghdad, “Iraq Vice President Sentenced to Death Amid Deadly Wave of Insurgent Attacks,”
The Guardian
, September 9, 2012,
www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/09/iraq-vice-president-hashemi-death-sentence
.

 96 
They claimed to be searching for the killer: Joel Rayburn, “Iraq Is Back on the Brink of Civil War,”
New Republic
, May 8, 2013,
www.newrepublic.com/article/113148/iraqs-civil-war-breaking-out-again
.

 98 
According to the Obama administration: Jessica D. Lewis, “Al-Qaeda in Iraq Resurgent,”
Middle East Security Report 14
, Institute for the Study of War, September 2013,
www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/AQI-Resurgent-10Sept_0.pdf
.

 98 
ISIS then sacked Fallujah: Sinan Adnan and Aaron Reese, “Beyond the Islamic State: Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency,”
Middle East Security Report 24
, Institute for the Study of War, October 2014,
www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Sunni%20Insurgency%20in%20Iraq.pdf

CHAPTER 7

 99 
Abed al-Sattar, the Anbar Awakening leader: Edward Wong, “An Iraqi Tribal Chief Opposes the Jihadists, and Prays,”
New York Times
, March 3, 2007,
www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/world/middleeast/03sheik.html
.

 100 
As scholar Eyal Zisser has noted: Eyal Zisser, “Hafiz al-Asad Discovers Islam,”
Middle East Quarterly
, March 1999,
www.meforum.org/465/hafiz-al-asad-discovers-islam
.

 100 
Up until recently, for example, despite a national Syrian law: Fares Akram, “Hamas Leader Abandons Longtime Base in Damascus,”
New York Times
, January 27, 2012.
www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/world/middleeast/khaled-meshal-the-leader-of-hamas-vacates-damascus.html
.

 100 
Today, the regime relies overwhelming on the paramilitary assets: David Axe, “Iran Transformed Syria’s Army into a Militia that Will Help Assad Survive Another Year,” Reuters, December 17, 2014,
blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/12/16/iran-transformed-syrias-army-into-a-militia-that-will-help-assad-survive-another-year
; Amos Harel, “Iran, Hezbollah Significantly Increases Aid to Syria’s Assad,”
Haaretz
, April 6, 2012,
www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/iran-hezbollah-significantly-increase-aid-to-syria-s-assad-1.422954
.

 101 
In 2007 CENTCOM announced: “Three Major Terror Busts in Iraq—Iran, Syria Connections Exposed, Say US Officials,” ABC News, March 22, 2007,
abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2007/03/three_major_ter
; Burke,
The 9/11 Wars
, 171.

 101 
According to Major General Kevin Bergner: Bill Roggio, “Al Qaeda in Iraq Operative Killed Near Syrian Border Sheds Light on Foreign Influence,” The Long War Journal, October 3, 2007,
www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/10/al_qaeda_in_iraq_ope.php
.

 101 
A study published in 2008: Peter Bergen, Joseph Felter, Vahid Brown, and Jacob Shapiro,
Bombers, Bank Accounts, & Bleedout: Al-Qa’ida’s Road In and out of Iraq
, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, July 2008,
https://www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Sinjar_2_FINAL.pdf
.

 102 
“In border villages and cities,” the CTC study stated: Ibid.

 102 
Al-Assad, of course, has always denied: Ibid.

 102 
as Jason Burke’s
The 9/11 Wars
shows: Burke,
The 9/11 Wars
, 171.

 103 
Bassam Barabandi, a former diplomat: Interview with one of the authors, December 2014.

 103 
The former diplomat described for us: Interview with one of the authors, December 2014.

 103 
Tony Badran, an expert on Syria: Interview with one of the authors, December 2014.

 104 
Badran mentioned . . . the curious case: “Death of a Cleric,”
NOW Lebanon
, October 5, 2007,
now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/death_of_a_cleric
.

 104 
As recounted by journalist Nicholas Blanford: Ibid.

 104 
Blanford argued that al-Qaqa: Ibid.

 105 
Habash told us that he first met al-Qaqa in 2006: Interview with one of the authors, December 2014.

 106 
“According to reports in the Arabic press”: Interview with one of the authors, December 2014.

 106 
Fatah al-Islam later posted: Graham Bowley and Souad Makhennet, “Fugitive Sunni Leader Thought to Have Been Captured or Killed in Syria,”
New York Times
, November 10, 2008,
www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/world/africa/10iht-syria.4.18569673.html
.