A Revised Policy

The feigned surrender is a tactic as old as war, of course, but Iraqis who used it against coalition troops may have had instruction in modern application. Ansar al Islam, a terrorist group based in Iraqi Kurdistan, crossed over into territory controlled by Saddam Hussein before the war and trained members of the Fedayeen Saddam. Some members of Ansar al Islam had themselves trained at al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan.

Before the war, Ansar al Islam sent out units from its redoubt in the mountains near the border with Iran to engage Kurdish troops. A Kurdish government official said in one battle the terrorists surrendered to the peshmergas, the Kurdish fighters. Most of the peshmergas wanted to execute their captives immediately to avenge fallen comrades, but their commander wouldn't allow a bloodbath. "That is not how we treat prisoners," he told his men.

At the first opportunity the terrorists rose up. The commander who had spared them died before his men regained control. This time, there was no discussion. Nor was there in subsequent engagements. The peshmergas took no prisoners. "They want to die and go to heaven," the government man said of the Islamist belief in the reward for martyrdom. "So we help them." He smiled, and the pain showed through.

Ed Fowler

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(c) 2003 Millennium Relief & Development Services, vol. 2 no. 31
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