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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,328832,00.html
EXCLUSIVE: Al Qaeda Trains Young Boys as Terrorists, Film Shows
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
WASHINGTON - Coalition forces acting on a tip from a local Iraqi planned a
surprise raid last week on a home in Kirkuk, where an 11-year-old boy, the
son of a Kurdish mechanic, was being held for $100,000 ransom by Al Qaeda.
The kidnappers had held the boy, Ammar, for four days.
Kidnapping and extortion are how Al Qaeda in Iraq finances its attacks. It
is big business. But this time there was a happy ending.
"As he came out from under that curtain you could tell he looked terrified,"
Rear Admiral Greg Smith, a spokesman for Multinational Forces Iraq, told FOX
News in an interview. "He gave his name and they said, 'You're the one we
are looking for,' and you could tell he was much relieved at that point."
The raid began before dawn.
"They approached on foot," Smith said from Baghdad. "They knew precisely
what door they needed to go to. They came down a small alleyway. The door
was locked, they yelled inside for it to be unlocked, it was not unlocked so
they broke the door down."
The security forces entered a small room.
"The Al Qaeda member who had custody of this young boy was also in shock by
the entrance and the quick operations by the Iraq security forces," Smith
said.
One of the kidnappers was caught inside the room where the boy was hiding.
All of the shooting and shouting left the boy terrified, according to those
who participated in the raid.
"They got him into the car," Smith recalled. "They handed him a cell phone
so he could call his mother, and he was very composed. He just said, 'Hello,
this is Ammar.'
"He said, 'I am here. I am safe.'"
An officer on the other end of the line could hear the family screaming and
shouting. Soon after, the boy was delivered back to cheering neighbors and
family members.
This story had a happy ending, but most kidnappings in Iraq do not. Ammar
was from a simple family, and his father never could have paid the $100,000
ransom.
In an interview after his son was returned to the family, Ammar's father
said, "The kidnappers told us that if we fail to pay the ransom, they will
behead my son and put his head in the garbage can in front of my house. We
told them that we don't have money."
The raid netted five kidnappers and led the coalition forces to another boy
being held in a hideout nearby. He was freed on Sunday.
Al Qaeda's networks are not difficult to unravel once a successful raid has
been completed. Its operatives' obsessive need to keep accurate books, such
as an accountant might, has provided Coalition troops with a treasure trove
of intelligence. Much like the Nazis in World War II, Al Qaeda operatives
document their every action, be it a suicide bombing or kidnapping. It is
the way they get paid by the organization.
The kidnapping ring that was broken last week had recorded 26 previous
kidnappings. Coalition forces did not know how many had ended in release,
and how many in death.
But another capture during a December raid in Khan Bani Sad - about halfway
between Baghdad and Baquba - gave even greater insight into the
organization.
That raid netted five propaganda videocassettes that would have made Nazi
propaganda filmmaker Heinrich Goebbels proud. They were training videos
showing Iraqi children between the ages of 6 and 14 being taught how to hold
AK-47s, how to stop a car and carry out a kidnapping, how to break into a
house, and how to break into a courtyard and terrorize the individuals
living there.
They are also seen being taught to use rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
"These were young boys all masked and hooded, all outfitted with weapons;
adults were doing the training," Smith said.
"Al Qaeda is clearly using children to exploit other children to get the
interest of Jihad spread among teenagers far and wide. They use this footage
on the Internet to encourage other young boys to join the jihad movement."
The group included about 20 children being "trained." At the end of the
hourlong video they are sent into their parents' arms, suggesting the
training has parental approval.
"We don't think they were being trained precisely to go out and conduct
operations any time soon," Smith said. "But clearly there is a pattern of
training and a pattern of indoctrination that is being used by Al Qaeda.
"Very young individuals who are very obviously innocent and impressionable,
these videos convince them early on that the jihadist movement, the Al Qaeda
movement, is something they should belong to and look up to."
All of this suggests that Al Qaeda in Iraq is planning to continue its
recruiting operations for years to come, Smith said.
"In this instance we believe it was for a greater purpose than trying to
produce footage for film," Smith said.
"That footage can be used again on the Internet to convince other young boys
around the world to join the movement."
EXCLUSIVE: Al Qaeda Trains Young Boys as Terrorists, Film Shows
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
WASHINGTON - Coalition forces acting on a tip from a local Iraqi planned a
surprise raid last week on a home in Kirkuk, where an 11-year-old boy, the
son of a Kurdish mechanic, was being held for $100,000 ransom by Al Qaeda.
The kidnappers had held the boy, Ammar, for four days.
Kidnapping and extortion are how Al Qaeda in Iraq finances its attacks. It
is big business. But this time there was a happy ending.
"As he came out from under that curtain you could tell he looked terrified,"
Rear Admiral Greg Smith, a spokesman for Multinational Forces Iraq, told FOX
News in an interview. "He gave his name and they said, 'You're the one we
are looking for,' and you could tell he was much relieved at that point."
The raid began before dawn.
"They approached on foot," Smith said from Baghdad. "They knew precisely
what door they needed to go to. They came down a small alleyway. The door
was locked, they yelled inside for it to be unlocked, it was not unlocked so
they broke the door down."
The security forces entered a small room.
"The Al Qaeda member who had custody of this young boy was also in shock by
the entrance and the quick operations by the Iraq security forces," Smith
said.
One of the kidnappers was caught inside the room where the boy was hiding.
All of the shooting and shouting left the boy terrified, according to those
who participated in the raid.
"They got him into the car," Smith recalled. "They handed him a cell phone
so he could call his mother, and he was very composed. He just said, 'Hello,
this is Ammar.'
"He said, 'I am here. I am safe.'"
An officer on the other end of the line could hear the family screaming and
shouting. Soon after, the boy was delivered back to cheering neighbors and
family members.
This story had a happy ending, but most kidnappings in Iraq do not. Ammar
was from a simple family, and his father never could have paid the $100,000
ransom.
In an interview after his son was returned to the family, Ammar's father
said, "The kidnappers told us that if we fail to pay the ransom, they will
behead my son and put his head in the garbage can in front of my house. We
told them that we don't have money."
The raid netted five kidnappers and led the coalition forces to another boy
being held in a hideout nearby. He was freed on Sunday.
Al Qaeda's networks are not difficult to unravel once a successful raid has
been completed. Its operatives' obsessive need to keep accurate books, such
as an accountant might, has provided Coalition troops with a treasure trove
of intelligence. Much like the Nazis in World War II, Al Qaeda operatives
document their every action, be it a suicide bombing or kidnapping. It is
the way they get paid by the organization.
The kidnapping ring that was broken last week had recorded 26 previous
kidnappings. Coalition forces did not know how many had ended in release,
and how many in death.
But another capture during a December raid in Khan Bani Sad - about halfway
between Baghdad and Baquba - gave even greater insight into the
organization.
That raid netted five propaganda videocassettes that would have made Nazi
propaganda filmmaker Heinrich Goebbels proud. They were training videos
showing Iraqi children between the ages of 6 and 14 being taught how to hold
AK-47s, how to stop a car and carry out a kidnapping, how to break into a
house, and how to break into a courtyard and terrorize the individuals
living there.
They are also seen being taught to use rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
"These were young boys all masked and hooded, all outfitted with weapons;
adults were doing the training," Smith said.
"Al Qaeda is clearly using children to exploit other children to get the
interest of Jihad spread among teenagers far and wide. They use this footage
on the Internet to encourage other young boys to join the jihad movement."
The group included about 20 children being "trained." At the end of the
hourlong video they are sent into their parents' arms, suggesting the
training has parental approval.
"We don't think they were being trained precisely to go out and conduct
operations any time soon," Smith said. "But clearly there is a pattern of
training and a pattern of indoctrination that is being used by Al Qaeda.
"Very young individuals who are very obviously innocent and impressionable,
these videos convince them early on that the jihadist movement, the Al Qaeda
movement, is something they should belong to and look up to."
All of this suggests that Al Qaeda in Iraq is planning to continue its
recruiting operations for years to come, Smith said.
"In this instance we believe it was for a greater purpose than trying to
produce footage for film," Smith said.
"That footage can be used again on the Internet to convince other young boys
around the world to join the movement."
