From Kirk Semple’s March 18 report on al-Qaeda suicide bombings in Ramadi and Amiriya — not the first incidents in which the bombs were spiked with chlorine gas:
Insurgents began combining explosives with chlorine gas and other chemicals in January in an effort to sow more fear and havoc among civilians, military officials say.
Some local officials blamed militants linked to the insurgent group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia for the attacks Friday and said they were part of a campaign to intimidate moderate tribes that have declared their opposition to such fundamentalist insurgent groups.
[…]
As many as 100 civilians were exposed to the chlorine and were treated for ailments including skin and lung irritation as well as vomiting, the military said.
Now, as I’ve already urged on this blog, please recall the “martyrdom” statement of young Mohammed Siddique Khan, one of the 7/7 tube bombers in London:
Your [the West’s] democratically elected governments continue to perpetuate atrocities against my people all over the world. Your support for them makes you directly responsible … until we feel security, you will be our targets. Until you stop the bombing, gassing, imprisonment and torture of my people, we will not stop. [Emphasis added.]
There have indeed been atrocities, including torture, carried out against Iraqis and others, thanks to the misguided and immoral policies of the Bush administration. But anyone on the left inclined to pity poor Mr. Khan and validate his anti-Western rage ought to consider that he carried out his bombing in solidarity with al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, which is currently gassing the Muslims of Iraq. From Semple’s account it seems this is not part of the sectarian anti-Shiite war, but rather brutal coercion of the Sunni populace itself.
We all continue to ponder and debate the root causes of terrorism and support for al-Qaeda, a very necessary inquiry. But shouldn’t it be noted that the very people spouting rhetoric against the gassing of Muslims are allies of an organization that gasses Muslims?
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