Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
May 9, 2008
Pg. 14
By Alissa J. Rubin
BAGHDAD — The last words of a suicide bomber in Mosul were a rallying cry for Muslims to join the fight against Americans.
His taking-off point was his experience at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
In two accounts — a transcript of his conversation in a jihadist chat room and a suicide message on tape — both posted on Web sites devoted to Al Qaeda after his death, the bomber, Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi, 29, described his detention as “torture” carried out by infidels. He was in Guantánamo from 2002 to 2005.
The American military confirmed that Mr. Ajmi, a Kuwaiti, carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq last month. His relatives were the first to make public his death, and Kuwaiti newspapers reported on Thursday that he was one of three Kuwaiti suicide bombers involved in an attack in Mosul that killed several Iraqi soldiers.
As many as 36 former Guantánamo detainees have taken part in violent acts against Western targets after their release, a Defense Intelligence Agency report said. Their violent acts raise the question of whether the men should have been released, but also whether their detention radicalized them.
At the Pentagon on Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was asked about the risk of former Guantánamo detainees returning to kill Americans or their allies. He said the recidivism rate was 5 to 10 percent, based on one dozen to three dozen known instances.
“So I would say that I think we do as careful a vetting job as we possibly can before releasing these people,” he said at a news conference.
The American military’s account of the reasons for Mr. Ajmi’s detention and his behavior at Guantánamo depict a defiant, often silent prisoner, but there is no suggestion in available documents that he was involved with Al Qaeda at that time.
Mr. Ajmi’s own account of his time at Guantánamo describes a man emboldened by religious devotion, who found solace in prayer and who hoped others would see his death as a righteous act.
The military’s summary of evidence in the case states that he ran away from the Kuwaiti military to fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Taliban gave him weapons, and he fought initially near the Bagram airport and then near the front lines during the early days of the current war in Afghanistan.
During his detention, he appeared to be angry and uncommunicative. In transcripts of his exchanges with military lawyers, he often gave one-word answers.
“Upon arrival at GTMO, Al Ajmi has been constantly in trouble,” said the summary of the evidence in his administrative review board hearing. “Al Ajmi’s overall behavior has been aggressive and non-compliant and he has resided in GTMO’s disciplinary blocks throughout his detention.”
The board recommended against his release. In a section titled “The following primary factors favor release or transfer,” the only comment is “No information available.”
Mr. Ajmi’s own account is similar in many respects. He describes himself as resisting his captors. But his farewell messages also suggest that he saw himself as a loyal fighter for Islam and never more so than while in detention.
“Twelve thousand kilometers away from Mecca, I realized the reality of the Americans and what those infidels want,” he said. He urged his fellow Muslims to join the Islamic State of Iraq, the organization synonymous with Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a homegrown extremist group with foreign leadership.
“Whoever can go the Islamic State of Iraq should go,” he said, according to the chat room transcript, and he exhorted fighters who were not imprisoned to undertake suicide missions.
In the tape made before his suicide attack he said he was detained in the Pakistani tribal areas. He said he was then held in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and flown to Guantánamo, where, he said, he was held naked.
In both his suicide tape and the chat room transcript, Mr. Ajmi describes the Americans’ desecration of the Koran and maltreatment of detainees, in what appears to have been an attempt to prod fellow Muslims to action. He said that detainees were beaten, given drugs and used “for experiments.”
“The Americans delighted in insulting our prayer and Islam and they insulted the Koran and threw it in dirty places,” he said.
In November 2005, Mr. Ajmi was one of five Kuwaitis released to the Kuwaiti government. He was later tried and acquitted.
In late March or early April he came to Iraq by way of Syria, according to Kuwaiti newspaper reports. He died with two other Kuwaitis in the same attack, according to the newspaper Al Seyassara.
His last thoughts were to encourage militants to avenge those who are in detention.
“I urge you, my brothers, support them with suicide operations,” he said. “Your captive brothers wish they could fight for the cause of God. You are free. It is your duty to free your Muslim brothers from the hands of the polytheists and infidels.”
Thom Shanker contributed reporting from Washington, and William Glaberson and Margot Williams from New York.
May 9, 2008
Pg. 14
By Alissa J. Rubin
BAGHDAD — The last words of a suicide bomber in Mosul were a rallying cry for Muslims to join the fight against Americans.
His taking-off point was his experience at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
In two accounts — a transcript of his conversation in a jihadist chat room and a suicide message on tape — both posted on Web sites devoted to Al Qaeda after his death, the bomber, Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi, 29, described his detention as “torture” carried out by infidels. He was in Guantánamo from 2002 to 2005.
The American military confirmed that Mr. Ajmi, a Kuwaiti, carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq last month. His relatives were the first to make public his death, and Kuwaiti newspapers reported on Thursday that he was one of three Kuwaiti suicide bombers involved in an attack in Mosul that killed several Iraqi soldiers.
As many as 36 former Guantánamo detainees have taken part in violent acts against Western targets after their release, a Defense Intelligence Agency report said. Their violent acts raise the question of whether the men should have been released, but also whether their detention radicalized them.
At the Pentagon on Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was asked about the risk of former Guantánamo detainees returning to kill Americans or their allies. He said the recidivism rate was 5 to 10 percent, based on one dozen to three dozen known instances.
“So I would say that I think we do as careful a vetting job as we possibly can before releasing these people,” he said at a news conference.
The American military’s account of the reasons for Mr. Ajmi’s detention and his behavior at Guantánamo depict a defiant, often silent prisoner, but there is no suggestion in available documents that he was involved with Al Qaeda at that time.
Mr. Ajmi’s own account of his time at Guantánamo describes a man emboldened by religious devotion, who found solace in prayer and who hoped others would see his death as a righteous act.
The military’s summary of evidence in the case states that he ran away from the Kuwaiti military to fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Taliban gave him weapons, and he fought initially near the Bagram airport and then near the front lines during the early days of the current war in Afghanistan.
During his detention, he appeared to be angry and uncommunicative. In transcripts of his exchanges with military lawyers, he often gave one-word answers.
“Upon arrival at GTMO, Al Ajmi has been constantly in trouble,” said the summary of the evidence in his administrative review board hearing. “Al Ajmi’s overall behavior has been aggressive and non-compliant and he has resided in GTMO’s disciplinary blocks throughout his detention.”
The board recommended against his release. In a section titled “The following primary factors favor release or transfer,” the only comment is “No information available.”
Mr. Ajmi’s own account is similar in many respects. He describes himself as resisting his captors. But his farewell messages also suggest that he saw himself as a loyal fighter for Islam and never more so than while in detention.
“Twelve thousand kilometers away from Mecca, I realized the reality of the Americans and what those infidels want,” he said. He urged his fellow Muslims to join the Islamic State of Iraq, the organization synonymous with Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a homegrown extremist group with foreign leadership.
“Whoever can go the Islamic State of Iraq should go,” he said, according to the chat room transcript, and he exhorted fighters who were not imprisoned to undertake suicide missions.
In the tape made before his suicide attack he said he was detained in the Pakistani tribal areas. He said he was then held in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and flown to Guantánamo, where, he said, he was held naked.
In both his suicide tape and the chat room transcript, Mr. Ajmi describes the Americans’ desecration of the Koran and maltreatment of detainees, in what appears to have been an attempt to prod fellow Muslims to action. He said that detainees were beaten, given drugs and used “for experiments.”
“The Americans delighted in insulting our prayer and Islam and they insulted the Koran and threw it in dirty places,” he said.
In November 2005, Mr. Ajmi was one of five Kuwaitis released to the Kuwaiti government. He was later tried and acquitted.
In late March or early April he came to Iraq by way of Syria, according to Kuwaiti newspaper reports. He died with two other Kuwaitis in the same attack, according to the newspaper Al Seyassara.
His last thoughts were to encourage militants to avenge those who are in detention.
“I urge you, my brothers, support them with suicide operations,” he said. “Your captive brothers wish they could fight for the cause of God. You are free. It is your duty to free your Muslim brothers from the hands of the polytheists and infidels.”
Thom Shanker contributed reporting from Washington, and William Glaberson and Margot Williams from New York.