In Perspective: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi أبو مصعب الزرقاوي

In the last year and a half, Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi has captured a huge mind share of mainstream news media. In this article, I try to gather some info on him to put him in perspective.

Background

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi أبو مصعب الزرقاوي was born in October 1966 near al-Zarqa' الزرقاء in Jordan, the site of a university there.

His real name is Ahmad Fadhil Nazal al-Khalaila أحمد فاضل نزال الخلايلة. THe Abu Mus'ab part is a kunya, and the al-Zarqawi part is a nisba (a place that someone comes from, or belongs to). Here is an article about Zarqawi's Jordanian roots.

It seems that he was raised in poverty, dropped out of school, had a criminal record, then joined the militants in Afghanistan at a later stage.

His group is called Tawhid and Jihad Group which is often wrongly translated as "Unity and Jihad Group". A more accurate translation would be "Monotheism and Jihad Group".

Zarqawi's seems to be influenced by Abu Muhammad Al Maqdisi (أبو محمد المقدسي  pseudonym of Isam Mohammed Barqawi عصام محمد البرقاوي), a hardline self-styled cleric who used to run a web site at http://almaqdese.com.

Relationship to al-Qaeda

Although the US Administration claimed that al-Zarqawi heads the al-Qaeda branch in Iraq, al-Zarqawi and Bin Laden had been at odds most of the time, and are more accurately described as rivals. al-Zarqawi only showed loyalty to Bin Laden in October 2004.

From his side, Bin Laden only acknowledged him on Dec 27, 2004. Al Jazeera obtained a tape where Bin Laden acknowledges al-Zarqawi as the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. He says that his joining al-Qaeda has filled him with joy, and call upon al-Qaeda supporters in Iraq to follow his orders. BBC had a brief summary.

Beheadings and Bombings bring notoriety

As a terrorist, Zarqawi is most notorious for his videotaped beheadings of Americans, such as Nicholas Berg. These act get a lot of media coverage because of their sensationalistic nature.

The other aspect of al-Zarqawi's strategy seems to be attacking Shia Muslim gatherings and important figures. Although Zarqawi, like other extremist Sunnis, has declared Shia as apostates, he does not see them all in the same light. The militant faction led by Muqtada Al Sadr opposing the US occupation is 'not considered a top priority', and so are Shia movements led by Jawwad al-Khalsi and Ayatollah al-Baghdadi.

Conflict with Al-Maqdisi

In July of 2005, in an Al Jazeera interview, al-Maqdisi expressed reservations on what Zarqawi is doing, namely engaging in bombing of civilians and waging war against Shia in Iraq. al-Maqdisi was rearrested during the interview. Zarqawi later blasted his mentor accusing him of driving a wedge among the Mujahedin, and "following the path to Satan and destruction", and justifying attacks on Shia because of a "they started it" type of argument.

Rebuke from El Zawahri

In October of 2005, a purported letter from Ayman El Zawahri to Abu Musab Al Zarqawi was intercepted by the Americans. In it, Zawahri asks Zarqawi to change his tactics, stop publicizing the beheadings and shoot captives instead, not to escalate the conflict with Shia, all in an attempt not to lose sympathy from supporters.

Here is an English translation (another link), as well as the Arabic original. Here is a summary from US Army Central Command.

In Perspective

His acts are not sanctioned by Iraqis, not even the other insurgent groups. Recently, a group called the Salvation Movement gave al-Zarqawi an ultimate to 'leave Iraq or die'.

A strange bit of news claims that Zarqawi called for the release of Margaret Hassan. Although this could be genuine, it can also be from fans of his on the internet trying to make him look good.

The actual size of Zarqawi's group, compared to the overall Iraqi resistance is insignificant. As the BBC reports, the number of followers pales compared to the rest of the resistance. Here is the relevant quote:

ZARQAWI IN CONTEXT
20-500: Estimate of size Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group
20,000-40,000: Estimate of size of Iraqi resistance

As a percentage, this is next to nothing.

Of course, his group gets more air time than others, because of:

• The sensationalistic methods (beheadings, videotaping, mass bombing)
• It better serves the purposes of the US Administration to personify "the problem" in one person.

In other words, Zarqawi's size is magnified and blown out of proportion, so that he serves as a needed "boogie man" to constantly remind Americans that terrorism is upon them.

What is also interesting is that had the US not invade Iraq, al-Zarqawi would have continued to linger in obscurity, and not be the hero symbol for the few who think of him as such.

Notes

This article was linked to from Netscape's CNN news article on May 26, 2005, as well in a Netcenter article. See the Editors's Web Picks box on those pages.

Links and Resources

• al-Zarqawi: Usama Bin Laden of Iraq from PWHCE. A very comprehensive article with lots of useful links.
• Professor Juan Cole collection of Documents on al-Zarqawi.
• Encyclopedia of the Orient article on al-Zarqawi.
• GlobalResearch.ca article on al-Zarqawi.
• CounterPunch: Gary Leupp : The uses of al-Qaeda Links.
• James Dunnigan: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's inflated reputation.
• CNN Profile of al-Zarqawi.
• GlobalSecurity.org has an extensive page on al-Zarqawi. It is interesting to see the many photos they have of him at the bottom of the page.
• Claim that al-Zarqawi having a wooden leg.
• Slate Article: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: The Mysterious Man Behind the Beheadings.
• Wikipedia entry on al-Zarqawi.
• The risks of the Zarqawi myth by Scott Ritter (ex-UN Arms inspector in Iraq)
• How Al Zarqawi Myth was Made in America. From Socialist Worker.