Interview of a Jihadist Warfare Trainer

This is a great interview of a Lebanese jihadist who trained Iraqis on guerilla warfare in Iraq.

You really owe it to yourself to read the entire interview over at MEMRI.

Some key take aways from the interview:

• He's a weapons dealer INSIDE Lebanon


• Lebanese jihadists are going to Iraq to wage war because they can't get into Israel or Palestine


• Syrians are bringing them into Iraq


• Their jihad in Iraq targets everyone, Americans mainly, but ANYONE.

Here's some excerpts:

Interviewer: "How did you come up with the idea of going to Iraq?"
Jawhar: "Most of the Muslim youth in Lebanon set their sights on jihad in Iraq. As you know, in general, the Lebanese structure and system prevent you from going to fight in Palestine, even though Palestine takes precedence over Iraq and all the other countries. Palestine is our main cause. The structure here in Lebanon is completely messed up. You have to get past a hundred thousand obstacles in order to be able to fight the Jews in Palestine. This is impossible, because nobody - without any exception - wants the Muslim youth to go and fight the Jews. Even those who do fight the Jews do this out of their own considerations, and not out of ideology. I say this about everybody, with no exception.
"Therefore, Iraq is closer than Palestine - not in terms of distance, but in the sense that you can fight there, because everybody opens the gates to Iraq, but closes the gates to Palestine, even though it is more important."

Interviewer: "How did you get there? Through a mediator? Who was he? Where did you go from 'Ein Al-Hilweh?"
Jawhar: "From the Syrian border, a Syrian guy took us...The smuggler was Syrian, and he took us to some place I don't know in Damascus, and then a van came and took us to the heart of Damascus. Then one of the brothers in charge of receiving [the mujahideen] came. All this was coordinated in advance. It's not like when you go on a trip. Everything was coordinated - from here to Shtura, from Shtura to Damascus, and from Damascus to Iraq. Everything was coordinated by the brothers in charge of this stuff. They receive brothers and send them on. It's all organized. Nothing is improvised."

Jawhar: "Everybody was targeted, but the Americans took precedence."
Interviewer: "Who is 'everybody'?"
Jawhar: "Whoever fights against 'there is no god but Allah.' Is there anyone who defends the Americans any better than them? The infidels are one and the same. An infidel is an infidel - whether he is a Palestinian, a Jew, or an Argentinean. The infidels are one and the same, while an American Muslim is a Muslim. So what's the problem? What, an Iraqi who is an apostate and who helps the Americans should be treated like a VIP? He is worse than the Americans.

Jawhar: "It is not in the Syrians' interest for Iraq to remain calm even for a moment. They benefit from this. The more Iraq is destroyed, the more pleased they are, because if the Americans feel comfortable in Iraq, they will move on to many other places. For the same reasons, it is not in the Iranians' interest... I don't know if you noticed, but the Shi'ites started fighting the Americans only two years ago. It's not the Shi'ites - the Iranians asked them to fight, and sent them weapons, explosive devices, and so on, because if the Americans feel comfortable in Iraq, they will move on to the other areas. Have you forgotten about the New Middle East?"