U.S. Turns Over Last Prisoner To Iraqis - Will the Iraqis Release the Hezbollah Commander Who Helped Kill Five U.S. Troops At Iran's Direction?

This story absolutely infuriates me - it's a bit detailed so I'll excerpt some of that below here but bottom line is that with the U.S. withdrawing from Iraq, the last prisoner that we held because he is that sinister, Ali Mussa Daqduq, is being turned over to the Iraqis and the great fear is that the Iranians will pressure the Iraqis to release this animal and if he does, I'm not sure I will be able to handle it. First off, Daqduq is a pig Hezbollah from Lebanon, secondly, he has been trained by the Qods Forces out of Iran, and thirdly, he has the blood of five U.S. soldiers on his hands and probably a lot more when you consider all of the training he did to enable Iraqi Shias aligned with Iran to kill Americans in the Iraq War.

Here's some of the details from The Long War Journal on this evil minion who we simply should have shipped to Gitmo:

Daqduq is perhaps the most dangerous of the Shia terror commanders captured by US forces in Iraq since 2003. He has a pedigree with Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran's proxy militia and terror group that is based in Lebanon. At the time of his capture in March 2007, he was a 24-year veteran of Hezbollah. He has commanded both a Hezbollah special operations unit and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's security detail

In May 2006, Daqduq traveled with Yussef Hashim, the chief of Lebanese Hezbollah's operations in Iraq, to Tehran to meet with the commander and the deputy commander of the Iranian Qods Force Special External Operations branch. Daqduq made four trips into Iraq in 2006, where he personally observed Special Groups operations.

Upon his return to Iran, Daqduq was tasked to organize the Special Groups "in ways that mirrored how Hezbollah was organized in Lebanon," Brigadier General Keven Bergner said in the July 2007 briefing. Daqduq began to train Iraqis inside Iran to carry out terror attacks in their home country. Groups of 20 to 60 recruits were trained in the use of Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs), mortars, rockets, and sniper rifles, and instructed on how to conduct intelligence and kidnapping operations.

Daqduq was captured in March 2007 along with two brothers, Qais and Laith Qazali. Qais was the leader of the Asaib al Haq, or the League of the Righteous, which is considered the most dangerous of the Shia terror groups, while Laith was a commander in the group. Qais was responsible for the January 2007 attack on the Karbala Joint Provincial Coordination Center. Five US soldiers were captured during the operation and were executed by Qazali's men as Iraqi police and troops closed in on the snatch team.

First off, in my view, Daqduq along with Qais and Qazali should have immediately been sent to Gitmo in order to further interrogate and get every single name and details of the Iranian Qod Forces involved in the Iraq War operation. At the same time, Daqduq should have been put in front of a military tribunal and sentenced to death by firing squad for his operations.

So now, we will see the Iranians start with the subtle pressure on the Iraqis...they will find some old feeble Iraqi that they've had in their jails for decades and propose a swap and that will be it. This animal will be let loose and you'll see yours truly have the meltdown of the century.

US transfers dangerous Hezbollah leader involved in murder of 5 US soldiers to Iraqi custody


Musa Ali Daqduq, the senior Hezbollah commander who was tasked by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to establish Shia terror groups into a Hezbollah-like entity, was transferred to Iraqi custody today, White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told Reuters. Daqduq was the last prisoner in Iraq who was in US custody. Vietor told Reuters that Iraq assured the US that it would prosecute Daqduq.

US officials fear that the Iraqi government will be pressured by Iran and Shia political parties to release Daqduq.

The US Department of Justice had planned to prosecute Daqduq in a US court, but Republican Senators opposed the transfer of the terrorist to US soil for prosecution. Some wanted Daqduq to be tried by a military court at Guantanamo Bay.

Background on Musa Ali Daqduq

Daqduq is perhaps the most dangerous of the Shia terror commanders captured by US forces in Iraq since 2003. He has a pedigree with Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran's proxy militia and terror group that is based in Lebanon. At the time of his capture in March 2007, he was a 24-year veteran of Hezbollah. He has commanded both a Hezbollah special operations unit and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's security detail.

In 2005, Hezbollah's leadership directed Daqduq to travel to Iran and partner with Qods Force, Iran's elite special operations group tasked with spreading the Iranian theocracy to neighboring countries, to train Iraqi Shia terror groups, the US military said in a briefing in July 2007 after Daqduq's capture. The US seized documents that outlined Daqduq's role in supporting the Shia terror groups, which are collectively called the Special Groups by the US military. The Special Groups include the Mahdi Army, the League of the Righteous (Asaib al Haq, a Mahdi Army faction), and the Hezbollah Brigades.

In May 2006, Daqduq traveled with Yussef Hashim, the chief of Lebanese Hezbollah's operations in Iraq, to Tehran to meet with the commander and the deputy commander of the Iranian Qods Force Special External Operations branch. Daqduq made four trips into Iraq in 2006, where he personally observed Special Groups operations.

Upon his return to Iran, Daqduq was tasked to organize the Special Groups "in ways that mirrored how Hezbollah was organized in Lebanon," Brigadier General Keven Bergner said in the July 2007 briefing. Daqduq began to train Iraqis inside Iran to carry out terror attacks in their home country. Groups of 20 to 60 recruits were trained in the use of Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs), mortars, rockets, and sniper rifles, and instructed on how to conduct intelligence and kidnapping operations.

"These Special Groups are militia extremists, funded, trained and armed by external sources, specifically by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Qods Force operatives," said Bergner. "In addition to training, the Qods force also supplies the Special Groups with weapons and funding of 750,000 to three million U.S. dollars a month. Without this support, these Special Groups would be hard pressed to conduct their operations in Iraq."

Daqduq was captured in March 2007 along with two brothers, Qais and Laith Qazali. Qais was the leader of the Asaib al Haq, or the League of the Righteous, which is considered the most dangerous of the Shia terror groups, while Laith was a commander in the group. Qais was responsible for the January 2007 attack on the Karbala Joint Provincial Coordination Center. Five US soldiers were captured during the operation and were executed by Qazali's men as Iraqi police and troops closed in on the snatch team.

Despite the roles played by Qais and his brother Laith in killing US troops and working with Iran's Qods Force, the US military released the two brothers and hundreds of their followers to the Iraqi government between July and December of 2009. The Shia terrorists were freed in exchange for a British hostage and the bodies of four other Brits who had been executed by the League of the Righteous while in custody.

The US military officially denied that the release of Qais and Laith was part of a hostage exchange, and instead insisted it was part of "reconciliation." But US military and intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal privately said that the brothers had indeed been freed as part of a hostage exchange.

The League of the Righteous returned to terror activities shortly after the hostage exchange. In January of 2010, less than a month after Qais was finally freed, the terror group kidnapped Issa T. Salomi, a US civilian contractor, in Baghdad.

Lebanon's Hezbollah Actively Working In Iraq To Destabilize, Attack American Targets

We knew that there was Hezbollah influence going on the last couple of years in the Iraq War but it is coming out now that the terror organization out of Lebanon, in unison with Iran, is more actively involved in outright targeting of destabilization in Iraq and zeroing in on American targets.

From the article at DEBKA:

debkafile's military sources report increased Hizballah involvement in actions to terrorize, subvert and destabilize Iraq. A US intelligence source told debkafile's Iraq and counter-terror sources Monday Sept. 6: "Hizballah is striking US targets in Iraq as sub-contractor for Iran and Syria."

These developments make nonsense of the dire predictions heard from some American military experts that an Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities would unleash a wave of anti-US terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is happening anyway without Israel lifting a finger against Iran or its aggressive allies.
debkafile's counter-terror sources can exclusively reveal the nature and makeup of Hizballah's operation in Iraq: The Lebanese terrorists are working directly and through two Iraqi Shiite affiliates.

1. Asaib al-Haq (League of the Believers): Under a variety of names, such as the Qais Khazalis for its commander, this group spent the last four years under the tutelage of Hizballah officers at Revolutionary Guards bases in Iran.A few weeks ago, the Lebanese officersleft Iran and crossed into Iraq disguised as Shiite pilgrims to spread out in Baghdad and the southern Iraqi towns of Karbala, Najef, Nassiriyeh and Basra from which to attack attack US targets.

2. Kata'ib Hizballah (Hizballah Brigades): This organization is commanded by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis who visited Damascus on Aug. 21 with the Revolutionary Guards chief Gen. Ali Jafaari. They got together there with Syrian and Hizballah officers to synchronize their campaigns of violence in Iraq, Israel and the West Bank.

Just the other day here at Holger Awakens I was warning of the designs that Iran has on Iraq and that the country could become this huge bloodbath when the likes of al Qaeda in Iraq meet up with the Iranian backed forces and Shia terrorist groups. At that point, the Iraqi army and security forces could literally see themselves surrounded by attacks coming from the West and the East.

One of the biggest complaints I ever had about President Bush was his reluctance to make Iran pay for their participation in the Iraq War - as Iranian technology brought the deadly EFP weapons into the IED attack scheme and Iranian Revolutionary Guard personnel were actually caught inside of Iraq, Bush did not strike back against Iran. And I feel that was a huge mistake. A signal should have been sent early - U.S. retaliation should have been swift and deadly against the Revolutionary Guard INSIDE of Iraq. What this would have done would have stopped the Iranian import of technology and training and also, it would have put the brakes on this import of Hezbollah influence and training.

So, now we are left with Hezbollah and Iranian forces pretty much free-wheeling it in Iraq through some proxy armies of insurgents and when the likes of the Hezbollah trained jihadis and the al Qaeda in Iraq misfits start to trade bombings of Shia and Sunni mosques....well, all Hell is gonna break loose.

Hizballah strikes US troops in Iraq, clears way for anti-Israel Eastern Front

debkafile's military sources report increased Hizballah involvement in actions to terrorize, subvert and destabilize Iraq. A US intelligence source told debkafile's Iraq and counter-terror sources Monday Sept. 6: "Hizballah is striking US targets in Iraq as sub-contractor for Iran and Syria."
According to the Sunday Times of Sept. 5, Iranian "firms" in Kabul are shelling out $1,000 to Taliban for every American soldier they kill in Afghanistan.
These developments make nonsense of the dire predictions heard from some American military experts that an Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities would unleash a wave of anti-US terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is happening anyway without Israel lifting a finger against Iran or its aggressive allies.
debkafile's counter-terror sources can exclusively reveal the nature and makeup of Hizballah's operation in Iraq: The Lebanese terrorists are working directly and through two Iraqi Shiite affiliates.

1. Asaib al-Haq (League of the Believers): Under a variety of names, such as the Qais Khazalis for its commander, this group spent the last four years under the tutelage of Hizballah officers at Revolutionary Guards bases in Iran.A few weeks ago, the Lebanese officersleft Iran and crossed into Iraq disguised as Shiite pilgrims to spread out in Baghdad and the southern Iraqi towns of Karbala, Najef, Nassiriyeh and Basra from which to attack attack US targets.

2. Kata'ib Hizballah (Hizballah Brigades): This organization is commanded by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis who visited Damascus on Aug. 21 with the Revolutionary Guards chief Gen. Ali Jafaari. They got together there with Syrian and Hizballah officers to synchronize their campaigns of violence in Iraq, Israel and the West Bank.
The Iraqi operation was clearly uppermost on the mind of Hizballah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, judging from the number of words he poured out on Iraq in his speech in Beirut on Palestine Solidarity Day of Sept. 3 and the way he bracketed the two "resistance struggles."
"The steadfastness of the Palestinians, Syria, Iran and the Iraqi people has been able to foil the US plot seeking to partition the region and liquidate its resistance," he said. "The US withdrawal from Iraq is a sign of weakness and defeat." Furthermore, "the Americans came to Iraq to stay there and control it, but years later, they were surprised by the early resistance and cited enormous and strategic mistakes in their reading of the Iraqi arena."

debkafile's military sources report that Hizballah's increased involvement in actions to terrorize, subvert and destabilize Iraq on behalf of Syria and Iran is their first practical step for reviving the Eastern Front which threatened Israel in the days of Saddam Hussein.
In its contemporary re incarnation, the Eastern Front would be orchestrated from Tehran and link up with the armed-to-the-teeth Northern Front composed of Iran's cohorts, Hizballah, Syria and the Palestinian rejectionists.

Task Force 88 Teams Capture Iranian-backed Shia Jihadists In Baghdad

Two separate operations in and around Baghdad have yielded the capture of eight members of the League of the Righteous and six members of the Hezbollah Brigades. This is great news and here are some of the details from Bill Roggio's The Long War Journal:

US forces have stepped up operations against the Iranian-backed Shia terror groups operating in Baghdad after a relative lull in November. Fourteen operatives from the League of the Righteous and the Hezbollah Brigades were captured in Baghdad during raids today.
Coalition forces - likely the hunter-killer teams from Task Force 88 - captured eight members of the League of the Righteous (Asaib Ahl al Haq) during two operations in Baghdad's Adhamiyah and New Baghdad districts early Sunday morning. Six Hezbollah Brigades operatives were captured during two operations inside Adhamiyah.
Raids targeting the two Iranian-backed terror groups have been infrequent during the month of November. Only two other Hezbollah Brigades fighters were captured during a Nov. 11 operation in Baghdad. Twenty-eight Hezbollah Brigades operatives were captured during multiple raids in October.

With fewer and fewer al Qaeda in Iraq leaders left to hunt down, the Task Force 88 teams have been freed up to concentrate more on these Iranian-backed groups like the League of the Righeous and the Hezbollah Brigades. Do yourself a favor and read the entire article from The Long War Journal as it does an excellent job of detailing who and what these two groups are all about.

The concern about what this operation yielded is the fact that these jihadists were in Baghdad and that shows just how volatile the city can still be. When the Iraqi Army and the coalition forces cleared out Sadr City, it was hoped that it would end these pockets of terrorists in the Baghdad area but a number of these splinter groups either hid or came back and set up shop again.

At the same time, a number of bloggers have recognized Victory in Iraq Day just this past week and while I agree with that premise, I am not ready to make that call yet. And a big reason for that is what this operation just yielded. Al Qaeda in Iraq has been dismantled - their leaders have more or less been hunted down and killed and captured but the Iranian-backed groups still have a presence in the country and with their Iranian weaponry, they can still inflict some heavy casualties on U.S. troops. At the same time, al Qaeda in Iraq cells are still being somewhat effective in using female suicide bombers and roadside bombs. I'm just being cautious - I don't feel it is good to declare this victory in Iraq only to see an attack take out a large number of casualties and I see that possibility as still being there.

US forces capture 14 Iraqi Shia terrorists in Baghdad

The League of the Righteous is splinter groups that broke away from Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army after Sadr announced he would disband the Mahdi Army and form a small, secretive military arm to fight Coalition forces in June. Sadr's moves caused shockwaves in the Mahdi Army, as some of the militia's leaders wished to continue the fight against US forces in Baghdad and in southern and central Iraq.
The League of the Righteous receives funding, training, weapons, and direction from Iran's Qods Force, the country's secretive special operations group that backs terror groups such as Lebanese Hezbollah. The League of the Righteous conducts attacks with the deadly, armor-piercing explosively formed projectiles, or EFPs, as well as the more conventional roads bombs.
The size of the League of the Righteous is unknown, but hundreds of members of the group were killed, captured, or fled to Iran during the Iraqi government offensive against the Mahdi Army from March to July of this year, according to the US military.
Sadr is looking to pull the rank and file of the League back into the fold of the Sadr's political movement. In a recent message issued by Sadr where he rejected the US-Iraqi security agreement, he said he "extends his hand to the mujahideen in the so-called Asaib but not their leaderships who have been distracted by politics and mortal life from the [two late] Sadrs and the interests of Iraq and Iraqis."
The Hezbollah Brigades or the Kata'ib Hezbollah, has been active for more than a year and has increased its profile by conducting attacks against US and Iraqi forces using the deadly explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, and improvised rocket-assisted mortars, which have been described as flying improvised explosive devices. The Hezbollah Brigades has posted videos of these attacks on the Internet.
The terror group is an offshoot of Iranian-trained Special Groups, the US military said last summer. Hezbollah Brigades receives funding, training, logistics, guidance, and material support from Iran's Qods Force.