Yes, Democratic Presidential Candidate Met With al Qaeda Supporter

As a followup to Good Lt.'s post below, who is it that Democratic candidate for President and Huffington Post blogger Dal LaMagna met with in Amman, Jordan? Trying to refute the accusation that he had met with a "terrorist", LaMagna tries to distinguish between "legitimate resistance" and "terrorists", a distinction he seems to think is real. Of course, whether it's the "resistance" killing you or a "terrorist" killing you seems rather a moot point if you're a U.S. soldier in Iraq.

I don't know how much play this got in the blogosphere when LaMagna first wrote his story since I was away on business. And, to be honest, his bid for the Presidency is about five times less serious than Dennis Kucinech's. But he is a HuffPo blogger, and that means he represents at least some portion of the Leftosphere.

So, who was this mysterious figure Dal LaMagna met with? None other than the head of the Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq, Sheikh Hareth al-Dhari. I knew I had heard that name somewhere, so I did a quick search of the vast Jawa Report archives and found this call from a-Dhari for bin Laden to 'intervene' in Iraq:

But throughout Anbar, the ties are still strong to Al Qaeda. Sheikh Hareth al-Dhari, who hails from one of Anbar's most prestigious tribes and heads the antigovernment Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq, called on Osama bin Laden to intervene to stop the rift between Al Qaeda in Iraq and the local insurgency.

He described men like Abu Risha [ed. note: a leader of the anti-al Qaeda Sunni forces in Anbar] as "agents and conduits of the [US] occupation."

"I call on Sheikh Osama bin Laden in the name of the Islam for which he fights to intervene and to instruct Al Qaeda to adhere to the rules of proper jihad and to respect the people who had previously opened their arms to Al Qaeda," Mr. Dhari said in an interview Sunday with Bahrain's Akhbar al-Khaleej newspaper. Dhari's remarks indicated that the US and Iraqis still have much work ahead to fully dislodge Al Qaeda from all the Anbar tribes.

"If he [bin Laden] has no influence over Al Qaeda in Iraq, then he must say it so that we can decide how to deal with those who have hurt our main cause, which is liberating Iraq," he said

So, did La Magna know he was meeting with a pro-al Qaeda 'Sheikh' or, like most peace activists, is he just a fool and a dupe ready to accept any and every lie told to him by people who's real goal is not to "end the occupation" but share Osama bin Laden's dream of a global Caliphate and the implementation of sharia law?

Of course, people like Harith al-Dhari can openly support Osama bin Laden and still claim to be against terrorism. How so? Simple, the pretend [or actually believe] that Osama bin Laden was not responsible for 9/11 and that any and all acts of "terrorism" were really committed by their enemies or by the you-know-who -- the Jews. For instance, al-Dhari blames the murder of Atwar Bahjat on the Shia government, when all reports to the contrary indicate it was his own 'resistance fighters' who murdered the female Al-Arabiya TV reporter.

Does LaMagna also know the reason why he had to meet with al-Dhari in Jordan, and not Iraq? It's because he has a warrant out for his arrest in Iraq for.....drumroll please...inciting terrorism:

Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, a Shiite, announced on state television Harith al-Dhari was wanted for inciting terrorism and violence among the Iraqi people.

Off and on he supports then condemns al Qaeda. Usually saving his condemnations for the Western press and dupes like LaMagna and those in the West eager to hear that the 'resistance' just wants peace and as soon as the U.S. leaves everything will be peachy keen. But to the Arabic press:

He also classifies the Mujahideen al-Shura Council, an umbrella group of al-Qaeda affiliated groups, as part of the legitimate resistance. [source: Jamestown Foundation]

FYI--The Mujahidin Shura Council [MSC]is the old name for what is now called The Islamic State in Iraq. The MSC was started by none other than Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda in Iraq leader personally responsible for the beheading murders of so many civilian hostages.

Here is an 'act of legitimate resistance' by the Islamic State of Iraq: [Warning: Graphic Images Below]

Or, here is the Mujahidin Shura Council doing their part in the 'legitimate resistance'. I'm sure the man below is pretty stoked to learn that LaMagna's friend supports this 'act of legitimate resistance':

You'll also recall that the organization al-Dhari leads was implicated in the kidnapping of Jill Carroll.

So, I hope you can excuse my outrage at LaMagna's meeting with this terrorist supporting piece of work, because I know what kind of people Harith al-Dhari supports.

UPDATE: Allah send me this link which notes that LaMagna has a long history of supporting Sunnis with a positive view of the 'insurgency' and who spread the standard jihadi propaganda line that the U.S. government is covering up the deaths of thousands--nay, tens of thousands--of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Related: Mosque Raided, Cleric Detained in Baghdad as Troops Search for Jill Carroll
Good News Iraq May 6: Sunni Muslim Sheikhs join US in fighting Al Qaeda
Warrant for Top Sunni, al Sadr Next?
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Posted by: Rusty at 01:30 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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