Posted by
Cary Wesberry on Thursday, March 13, 2008 3:00:12 PM
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Osama al-Magid, a former police officer in Iraq (1992- 2003). He can be contacted at osamaalmajid@yahoo.com.
FP: Osama al-Magid, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Al-Magid: Thank you Mr. Glazov. I hope to provide information to the American public that will help them understand that terrorism in the U.S. from Al Qaeda did not end on September 11th, 2001. There are currently supporters of Al Qaeda not only outside of the U.S. but also inside of it.
This is my first interview pertaining to many of the issues I am going to discuss with you. Right now I can provide some details, but as time goes by I will be providing the Americans with more about the truth in Iraq. There have been friends of mine who have tried to inform the American people about things in Iraq before 2003 and after the Americans came to Iraq, but for some reasons the information has not been widely publicized. I will tell the American people that a person who is like a brother to me has risked his life to tell people about many important issues in Iraq. I met Special Agent Dave Gaubatz in 2003 (Nasiriyah). Dave and I started working together to obtain intelligence about threats against the U.S. forces. We traveled in Nasiriyah and other cities. We protected one another and today in 2008 we are still working together. I can’t explain everything right now for security reasons, but we are traveling through America and trying to identify terrorists and their supporters who want to attack America like in 2001. We are trying to help law enforcement so they can protect America.
Both of us have families and we do not want the children in America, Iraq, or any country to suffer from terrorism.
FP: Tell us about your experience as a police officer in Iraq. In what cities did you work? What happened after the American liberation?
Al-Magid: I attended the Iraq Police Academy in Baghdad for three years from 1992 - 1995. I was then assigned to Nasiriyah and Basra. Of course as a police officer I traveled and worked in many cities throughout Iraq. I attained the rank of Captain. I was trained in all areas of criminal investigations. I worked robbery and murder cases. Americans must understand that under Saddam Hussein the members of the Baath Party and other "privileged people" living in Iraq could commit major crimes like murder and rape and receive protection. As police officers we could only investigate people we were allowed by Saddam to investigate.
My family and I were very happy when we realized the Americans were coming to Iraq. Although many Iraqi people were happy the Americans were coming to remove Saddam Hussein, they were not allowed to show it. Some did and they were killed by the Fedeyeen for doing so. One example was a young girl on the roof of her house and she saw the American helicopters in Nasiriyah. She started waving to the Americans. Some of her Baath party neighbors saw her waving. They reported this to the officials. The Fedeyeen came and killed her mother and father in front of her. Being a police officer and knowing they had committed crimes did not mean I or any officer could arrest them. The Fedeyeen were under the protection of Saddam.
After the Americans came to Iraq, it did not become peaceful. There were many people still in all cities who supported Saddam Hussein. From March 2003 until the fall of 2003, many supporters of Saddam were simply regrouping and preparing for attacks against the Americans.
FP: How about Al Qaeda in Iraq?
Al-Magid: Al Qaeda and other people who believed the same as Al Qaeda had been in Iraq for many years. When I say “believed” I mean people who hated America and wanted to destroy the U.S.
Saddam had this in common with Al Qaeda and this is why he provided them protection. My family and I had suffered under Saddam as many Iraqis did. Even as a police officer I had been put in jail and tortured because some people knew I did not like how Saddam treated his own people. Many members of my family had also been tortured, but luckily we had enough money to pay the Baath Party in order to get them out of jail.
FP: So how did Dave Gaubatz come into the picture?
Al-Magid: Around 2003, as I have mentioned, I met Mr. Gaubatz. My family and I wanted to help the Americans and we went to a base to speak with someone who could work with us. Dave knew our family had already saved some American soldiers’ lives and we started working together. I can’t mention some things right now, but I can say we talked about Al Qaeda and the Iranians being in Iraq before 2003. Saddam used some of these groups to terrorize the Iraqi people so they would not go against him.
Dave, one other agent, and I traveled through different states to obtain some security information. We did not have security forces with us. In early 2003, the agents and I traveled by ourselves. It was very dangerous, but the information we obtained was very important.
Many people will want to know how I was able to come to the U.S. in late 2003. I can say that my family and I had provided the U.S. very important security information and we had saved many American soldiers lives. It was arranged through the U.S. Government for us to live in America. I believe it is very important for everyone in America to work together to protect America, because there are terrorists who want to destroy this country.
Both Dave Gaubatz and I know how dangerous Al Qaeda is. Dave is from America, I am from Iraq, he is a Christian, and I am a Muslim. We care for each other and our families care about each other. Al Qaeda does not care about any of us.
FP: Can you talk about Al Qaeda in Iraq before and after 2003?
Al-Magid: I have discussed some points about Al Qaeda being in Iraq for many years before 2003. This seems to only be a surprise to Americans, but everyone in Iraq knew Al Qaeda was being protected by Saddam in Iraq. The Al Qaeda people had their own mosques in Nasiriyah and only Al Qaeda could go to the mosques. One of their mosques was near the Saddam hospital that Private Jessica Lynch was being held as a prisoner.
Americans do not understand how much they helped the Iraqis when they removed Saddam.
Something that U.S. forces must understand in Iraq is that if they are speaking with someone they must be very careful. This person may be a good person, but maybe they know someone in their family who is Fedeyeen, senior Baath Party, or with Al Qaeda. One of my relatives was a senior Baath Party member, but I was not. My father was a good man and he did not want his children being unkind to anyone. He did not want us to support the Baath Party.
When my family and I helped the Americans in 2003, we knew it was very dangerous. Many Iraqis had been killed and still are for helping the Americans. Fedeyeen and Al Qaeda had tried to find us in Iraq. They had told our neighbors they would kill us. They burnt our home down. Dave Gaubatz was able to get us to safety and to the U.S. We knew they would not stop looking for us though. It was no secret to the Iraqi people that Al Qaeda and their supporters were living in America. The borders of America are open and there are people who come across the borders to enter the U.S. When I arrived in the U.S. in late 2003, it was not long before we began to be followed and then some Arabs came to our home once. U.S. Government security handled the situation for us.
But I thought there was no such thing as Al-Qaeda in Iraq before we evil Americans invaded to save the country's people from the most brutal dictator the world has seen in the past thirty years! Boy was I wrong. Al-Qaeda under Saddam? Someone should tell the press! Someone should alert the President! Someone should tell the Democrats! For crying out loud someone should tell Cindy Sheehan!!! Damn we're stupid.
Al-Qaeda was there before and they are there now... well al-Qaeda is mostly destroyed in Iraq now thanks to our soldiers and General Petraeus' brilliant Surge tactic. No WMD and no al-Qaeda. Why doesn't anyone remember Zarqawi's flight froom Afghanistan into Iraq and Saddam's hospital after we wounded him? Or Saddam attempting to buy yellow-cake uranium in Nigeria, a country I might add who's only export besides large amounts of sand happens to be uranium? Anyone? Pathetic.
With the facts right in our faces most of America refuses to see the obvious connections and understand the importance of removing Saddam Hussein before we spent the first decade fighting The Long War agains Islamo-fascism. B. Hussein Obama sure as Hell doesn't get it, why should any other Democrat? Even cranky old stubborn John McCain gets it for the sake of all that's Holy! Wake-up people! Anyone on the radio or on your TV that tells you al-Qaeda is simply a rag-tag band of angry idiots needs to be taken out and shot in the foot.