There is growing evidence that some proportion of the attacks on American and coalition forces in Iraq are being funded by an external source. American intelligence has found that people are being paid to make and plant ieds (improvised explosive devices), with a bonus if casualties are caused. American intelligence, however, does not know who is paying for these attacks.

American intelligence suspects that Saddam Hussein, or one of his deputies, most likely are paying for the attacks. Saddam Hussein withdrew over US$1billion from Iraq's central bank, hours before the invasion started. Coalition forces have recovered the majority of this money, but over US$100 million still remains uncovered, enough to buy alot of silence and explosions. There is also speculation by American intelligence that it is Baathist remnants with money. There are many reports of young Iraqi males engaging in bomb making due to the lucrative rewards, however there have been alot of hospital admissions of bomb makers.

American intelligence is attempting to create/buy a network of pro-US information sources, as has Spanish intelligence. However, this ended very badly for 7 spanish intelligence service members, when they drove into an ambush setup by a collaborator they had recruited. All 7 intelligence officers were killed in the ambush. The resistance is more likely in my opinion, to come from a mix of a mix of public distrust of American forces, highly stressed tense American soldiers who are willing to fire at anything suspicious, remnants of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen, and possibly funding from Osama Bin Laden and other "terrorist" organisations.

At this point, the Iraqi resistance supposedly (according to US intellegence) numbers over 50,000 people all up, including people who provide shelter and care to resistance members. There are a total of 24 million Iraqis, and it is not known what percentage of the population support either the coalition, or the resistance. However, there is obviously some level of support in the general population, otherwise the resistance would not be able to survive. The resistance appears to be mainly isolated groups, with little internal cohesion, this is both good and bad. It means the resistance is harder to wipe out, but at the same time, it isn't as strong. American military intelligence believes there is no central command for the resistance.

What proportion of the resistance is mercenary, and what proportion is fighting for it's beliefs, country, or Saddam Hussein is not known. The key hotspots seem to be Falluja, Tikrit, and Baqubah. In Fallujah, the armed resistance started after April 28th, when US soldiers killed 13 protesting civillians, and injured over 75. They were protesting at the use of a school as an army base. In Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, attacks have been ongoing since April 16th. Tikrit was very strongly aligned with Saddam Hussein while he was in power, and was where he recruited his Fedayeen from.

Religious issues, the fact that their country has been occupied, stressed, tense American soldiers who overreact to situations, pro-Saddam feeling, and bribery all seem to play a part in the root of the resistance, with unemployment estimated to be between 50-70%. How unreasonable is it for someone who has been a soldier all their life, to plant a bomb, if it's a way of securing their family income?

There are very few legitimate jobs in post-occupation Iraq, and families must be fed. An Italian anti-war group ("Antiimperialista") has raised over 12,000 euro's to donate to one front of the Iraqi resistance, to buy guns, or medicines, or food, whatever they choose to buy. Syria is suspected by the United States to be both supplying the Iraqi resistance with weaponry, and allowing troops to cross it's borders freely. Arm's are being smuggled through the Syria-Iraqi border mainly, and are also being salvaged from arms caches set up while Saddam Hussein was in power.

The bounties on Saddam and Osama are $25 million each, however the money they have will buy alot of silence, and alot of explosives. At this point, the Iraqi resistance's key strategies seem to be to sow terror, to hit easy and unguarded targets (UN, Red Cross), to use suicide bombers, snipers, and hit and run tactics. They don't want to die (excluding suicide bombers), and they know if they go against the US forces in all-out combat they don't have a chance. Therefore, they sneak, plant bombs, and attack where the enemy is the weakest.

The resistance has speed, stealth, and accurate military intelligence on it's side. Those are it's only advantages. So they use their advantages. In the last several months, there have been many attacks on Iraqi police stations, Iraqi aid workers, and several assassination attempts on the Iraqi governing council, including one successful attempt, on Akila Hashimi, a prominent Iraqi woman. They do not have the strength to stand and fight, however there is enough of a resistance movement to cause noticeable levels of attrition in coalition units, and Iraqi collaborators.

References:
IED's are being paid for -
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,104445,00.html http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,104911,00.html http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7216256.htm

Saddam withdrew over US$1billion from Iraq's central bank hours before the invasion
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/60386/1/.html

An Italian antiwar group is planning to help fund an Iraq resistance front, and has already raised over 12,000 euro's
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3277029.stm

Iraqi collaborators are being targetted
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=68427&Sn=WORL
(about attack on a police station - many, many, many more on google news)

Militants are coming through the Iraq-Syria border, according to US intel - Syria disagrees
http://news.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3195764.stm

Syria accused by US of harbouring militants
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters12-02-103423.asp?reg=EUROPE

Iraq governing council assassination
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/7331695.htm

(c) 2003 Please do not alter this article in any way/form/shape, or publish anywhere without my express permission I can be contacted at: baboeska@orcon.net.nz

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