Page 2 of 2 INTERVIEW Resistance, not
terror The Grand
Ayatollah Ahmed Alhasani al-Baghdadi
building this
wall in the Adhamiya district of Baghdad and their
excuse is to protect people from terrorism,
although this will not prevent the throwing of
grenades and mortars over the wall. This wall
isn't spontaneous; it is an introduction for the
Iraqi capital to be divided in two, one for
Shi'ites and the other for Sunnis.
MA: Who do you think is
responsible for building this wall, the
Americans or the Iraqi
government?
Al-B: There is
no government in Iraq; there is only a handful of
employees who take orders from Americans. These
people in the Green Zone are a group of spies.
MA: What are the benefits
for the United States when they have divided
Baghdad?
Al-B: In order to
stop the attacks that target them, in order for
them to remain in Iraq and in order to keep the
area busy and confuse everyone, including Iran.
MA: Why do you lack trust in
the Americans' intentions?
Al-B: The American
administrations and not the American people are
the enemies of people everywhere. They are
provoking wars. Look at what they did in Somalia,
Afghanistan and Iraq. They even let down their own
agents. They don't have permanent friendships or
enemies, they only have permanent benefits. If
America wanted freedom and democracy for the
people, they wouldn't have intervened in Iraq in
this barbaric, [Adolf] Hitler-like manner,
crushing all international laws and legislation.
America is not a charity organization; there is a
big resource of Iraqi [petroleum]. If America
stayed on this track, it would collapse.
MA: Why don't you believe
that the US wants to establish democracy?
Al-B: America occupied Iraq
for [petroleum] and secondly to control the
countries of Middle Asia.
MA: What is your opinion of
the Sadr movement?
Al-B: The
al-Sadr movement is a revolutionary movement
demanding the withdrawal of the Americans. They
also have groups that fight the American army. The
majority of this movement is from the poor people
who are poverty-stricken and have had their rights
taken from them. They are not from the high
classes; they feel what their nation feels.
MA: Do you expect a
political future for the Sadr movement?
Al-B: Their political
discourse isn't well established and their
relationships with other revolutionary movements
that demand Iraq's freedom need more coherence.
They are targeted by the occupiers because of
their belief of expecting the rise of the Imam
Mahdi.
MA: What is your
opinion of the Supreme Council of Islamic
Revolution in Iraq (of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim), and
its political attitude?
Al-B: Everyone who took part
in the so-called political procedure in Iraq has
committed treason and a sin; this applies to the
Supreme Council and whoever else took part.
MA: You complimented the
Sadr movement even though it took part in the
political procedure in Iraq. How do you explain
that?
Al-B: I advised them
that what they are doing is against Islamic sharia
law. I said that even in an international
conference in Italy. Fighting is a must and armed
resistance is the only way. Once we get involved
in the political procedure, we would give
legitimacy to the occupation.
MA: What is your evaluation
of the religious Shi'ite grand ayatollahs and
their attitude toward occupation?
Al-B: There is the American
media machine and its followers; they say that the
religious institute in Najaf with all its members
supports the political procedure, ie, they support
the division of Iraq. There are lots of grand
ayatollahs in Najaf, and not only four. The
Americans want to make people think that the
religious institution in Najaf supports the
occupation. I am one of the grand ayatollahs in
this nation and I say I don't support the
political procedure. I call for boycotting the
economy and all institutions, following the way of
[Mahatma] Gandhi and also taking to armed
fighting.
MA: Are there
other grand ayatollahs in Najaf or Iraq who think
the same way as you do?
Al-B: The whole of the Iraqi
people are fighting. There are only four grand
ayatollahs who are with the Americans. [Henry]
Kissinger said: "If [Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-]Sistani was against the American existence in
Iraq, we would have left within a few weeks."
That's why they wanted to grant him the Nobel
Prize. Sistani and Bashir al-Najafi are not
Iraqis. Sistani is an Iranian nationalist. If
[Imam] Ali and [caliph] Omar were alive they would
have fought against America. If Bush was a Muslim,
I would have accepted him, even if the Americans
gave us complete freedom; still Islam ordered us
to fight with them. It is according to the Koran
that we shouldn't let non-Muslims govern us.
Sistani is keeping silent and not uttering a word
of truth, so he is a dumb devil. I say fighting is
a must and it is the only way to free the land and
humans.
MA: What about the
death squads, and who is responsible for their
existence?
Al-B: Recall the
Phoenix agreement in Vietnam at the time of Ho Chi
Minh when he was the leader of the resistance and
when the resistance achieved victories: American
political thinkers established death squads. They
bore the slogan "We are thirsty for fresh blood"
in order to demonize the Vietnamese resistance.
When the Americans faced an increase in the Iraqi
resistance and its victory, American ambassador
[John] Negroponte used his brain to establish
death squads in order to discredit the real
national resistance. One of the things to prove
that is when the so-called Iraqi police check the
remains of an exploded car, they find the chassis
number is American.
(This article first
appeared in SaudiDebate.com.
Published with permission.)
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