Khattab Martyrs

The war against the occupation force is turning into some kind of a religious struggle; under these conditions the situation in Iraq may become less stable and predictable
Several conclusions can be made judging by the information reported from Iraq. First of all, the occupation forces cannot control the situation in the country completely. Nevertheless, the scale of a partisan war (or a terrorist war as Americans call it) shouldn't be overstated. Second, no matter what they say about Saddam sheltering somewhere, there is still no unified center controlling the resistance in Iraq. Organizations claiming responsibility for firing patrols and guards of the allied forces in Iraq spring up like mushrooms. First appeared an unknown group "Iraqi Resistance Brigades"; now al-Jazeera demonstrates a videotaped message from one more unknown organization, "Mujahideens of Victory". As one may guess, this organization has claimed the responsibility for the recent attacks. To be more precise, the attacks were organized by a militant subdivision of the terrorist organization, "Khattab Martyrs Brigades".

It is not ruled out that the terrorist group actually exists. After all, tens of thousands of Ba'ath organization members and officers of the Republican Guards couldn't disappear without leaving a trace after the coalition troops deprived them of their privileges. Some of them have probably organized some kind of a partisan movement. But it is still an open question whether this movement actually exists and how strong it is.

It is known that Iraqis are still holding much weapon; they are not only pistols and guns (which, as it turned out, can bring down super-modern Apaches) but also machine-guns and grenade cup discharges. An action that Americans launched with a view to disarm the Iraqi civilians was an ignominious failure. It is quite natural that Iraqi civilians preferred to retain their weapons in conditions when the occupation forces cannot guarantee people's security. At the same time, as far as the population still holds much weapon, attacks at coalition servicemen are inevitable. To all appearances, they will continue in the future as well. And it is the provisional administration of Iraq that may put an end to such attacks. To tell the truth, it is not for sure that creation of a transitional government will suppress the violence. Let's remember the situation in Afghanistan for instance. We see that the war against the occupation force is turning into some kind of a religious struggle; under these conditions the situation in Iraq may become less stable and predictable.