Iraq's "Salvation Movement"

Al-Arabiya is reportedly running a video from an Iraqi group that is threatening to kill Abu Musab al-Zarqawi "if he [does] not immediately leave the country, accusing him of murdering innocent Iraqis and defiling the Muslim religion." The group calls itself the "Salvation Movement," and its spokesman speaks in an Iraqi accent. The Zarqawi tapes, which threaten or display beheadings, feature statements in a Jordanian accent.

"He must leave Iraq immediately, he and his followers and everyone who gives shelter to him and his criminal actions," says a masked figure on the "Salvation Movement" tape. "We swear to Allah that we have started preparing … to capture him and his allies or kill them and present them as gift to our people." the man said. "This is the last warning. If you don't stop, we will do to you what the coalition forces have failed to do."

According to the story, "The threats revealed the deep anger many Iraqis, including insurgent groups, feel toward foreign fighters, whom many consider as illegitimate a presence here as the 160,000 U.S. and other coalition troops."

Comments

[Slippery Pete]

Here's my prescription for Iraq's REAL salvation:

The Iraqi police arrest this guy, try him, and then punish him according to Iraqi law. It's nice to see that Zarqawi's unpopular in Iraq, and I guess that's Freund's only point, but vigilantism is generally not such a good thing.

[anon]

"its spokesman speaks in an Iraqi accent."

"The Zarqawi tapes, which threaten or display beheadings, feature statements in a Jordanian accent."

Charles, can you actually tell the difference between Iraqi and Jordanian accents?

Another question: why does Zarqawi appear veiled, while Osama and his gang typically show their faces?

[Mo]

anon,
There are actually some pretty noticable differences between the different Arabic accents. I'm not sure about Jordanian and Iraqi (not enough exposure, so I don't know what to look for), but I could pick out the Lebanese and Egyptians from a room full of Arabs based on the inflection and word choice.

[anon]

Mo:

You can tell the dialects by region but not necessarily nationality.

Telling the difference between Egyptian and Lebanese (or Moroccan) dialect is easy. They live far apart. Telling the difference between Iraqi and Jordanian accents is not so easy. It depends on where in Iraq the speaker is from. If, for example, he/she is from the tribal areas close to the Iraqi/Syrian/Jordanian border, then, the differences are negligible. In other words there is no such a thing as "clear Iraqi accent" or as the Fox News story claims.

[rst]

Whoo hoo! Let's get some popcorn and watch these fools fight it out. And why not? It worked for Compton, it'll work in the Middle East.

[The Lonewacko Blog]

In other words there is no such a thing as "clear Iraqi accent" or as the Fox News story claims.

I'm a bit suspicious of this tape, or at least who's behind the mask. How do we know this is a real "grassroots" group and not just, for instance, a U.S. translator? If this is fake, let's hope it was done intelligently so as to avoid people raising doubts about it and coming up with yet another conspiracy theory.

I'm still waiting for news on whether they were speaking Russian on the Berg tape. I downloaded the video only to find it ended before he was decapitated. I guess I'll have to find the full version.

[Gadfly]

"Shows that the Zarqawis of the country are hated as much as they ought to be. Lets just hope they succeed in their mission."

Spoken with true American hubris. The article makes it clear that these guys want ALL foreign elements out. In our enlightened state, we aren't even foreigners.

[joe]

There's a great quote from Wolfowitz, Gadfly, in which he warns that foreigners better not interfere with Iraq's internal affairs. The irony seemed completely lost on him.

Of course, 'Muricans aren't furrners.

[Andrew]

joe

I guess these guys are going to have a problem with candidate Kerry then, who - if I, or anyone else, can understand him - wants to get ALL KINDS of foreigners INTO Iraq.

[Nelson Muntz]

huh?

My old man can't have any beer because his old man won't let another old man have a bear.

[Mike]

There's your Arab outrage.

[andy]

Very encouraging. Shows that the Zarqawis of the country are hated as much as they ought to be. Lets just hope they succeed in their mission.

[s.a.m.]

Brings new meaning to the Sunni Triangle: "The enemy of my enemy is my enemy."

[MattJ]

I wish the Iraqi Army good fortune in their efforts to hunt down Zarqawi.

I hope the "Salvation Movement" is a hoax. Beyond perhaps finding/killing Zarqawi, it seems to me that nothing good is likely to come of it.

[huh?]

So let's see if I get this straight... a group of Iraqis have formed their own TERRORIST group to go after the foreign-born leader of another TERRORIST group for defiling Islam and committing acts of terror aginst the Iraqi people...

...and this is all because the Iraqi people hate the US?

The folks at Al-Arabiya seriously and desperately need to get their veils out of the sand.

Still this news is encouraging. I hope they get their hands on al-Zarqawi and show him what it's like to suffer.

[joe]

"...the coalition..?"

hoax. Astroturf terrorism.

[Larry Edelstein]

It seems possible that al-Zarqawi chooses to display loyality and magnaminity by acceeding to these demands. What a mixed blessing that would be!

[iraqwarwrong]

This really risks distracting people from the important point, it seems to me, which is that the Iraq war was wrong to begin with.

[otrain]

I am finally glad to see that there is a group who is willing to go the distance. They actually threaten to capture or kill Zarqawi for his hineous deeds which saw the death of innocent Iraqi civilians and gov't officials and maybe the people who got beheaded and said they will follow through with their threat. If they capture him, he better be tortured and and tried by the Iraqi gov't and sentenced to die in the most painful manner that will not make him look like a martyr. Hope they might give info to the coalition forces, but I think these people are willing to take the law into their own hands and rid Iraq of these terrorists. Go for it!

[M. Simon]

joe,

The true irony is that these groups would be in no position to eject foreigners if foreigners hadn't changed the Iraqi political landscape. In that respect Americans are not foreign to Iraq.

[stewart]

May God give them good aim

[stewart]

May God give them good aim

[abukalyb al nasir]

it's about time some mujahideen rose up and started to fight jihad the way it is written and by the ways the quoran intended it to be fought.people calling themselves mujahideen and violating the laws of jihad should be wiped out by real mujahideen trying to protect their religion and beliefs.i think that the real infidels are these people going around blowing up mosques and innocent people and deserve to die by the sword of Islam and in the name of Allah.i give all my support to the Iraqi Salvation Movement for getting rid of these cowards.in the name of Allah,most gracious and almighty,i pray these terroists are brought down by the real mujahideen, insha'Allah.