Islamic State in Iraq: 'They Know Exactly What They Are Doing'

[unhappycamper]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-ahmad-chalabi-on-islamic-state-iraq-and-syria-a-991659.html



Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi played an infamous role in spurring the 2003 American invasion of his country. In an interview, he tells SPIEGEL about the rise of Islamic State, why the West misjudged the jihadists and whether it is time to cooperate with Assad.

Islamic State in Iraq: 'They Know Exactly What They Are Doing'
Interview conducted by Dieter Bednarz
September 16, 2014 – 03:45 PM

SPIEGEL: Mr. Chalabi, how close have fighters from Islamic State come to Baghdad?

Chalabi: They are 26 kilometers away. That is menacingly close, but the situation is calm at the moment and Islamic State has not made any more advances on Baghdad. Thank God.

SPIEGEL: Do you believe they will attack?

Chalabi: The extremists have long since brought their terror to Baghdad. Islamic State has sent its suicide bombers, has detonated explosives in front of our homes. I could show you parts from a car bomb that rained down on our roof not long ago. But Islamic State will not attempt to attack Baghdad militarily. Of the six million residents in the city, four million are Shiites. And almost every adult Shiite in the city owns a weapon. Islamic State well knows that it would be ground down by a brutal house-to-house fight.

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dubya used Chalabi to hawk for the Iraq 2.0 war. It appears we are recycling neocons again.