The following are excerpts from an interview with Sunni Clerics Council in Iraq Secretary-General Sheikh Hareth Al-Dhari, which aired on Al-Majd TV on August 28, 2005. (To view this interview visit: http://memritv.org/clip/en/833.htm.)
Host: "Why isn't America concerned about Shi'ite ethnic continuity in southern Iraq and in Iran, which will jeopardize American interests in the future?"
Sheik Al-Dhari: "America today, after the failure of its enterprise in Iraq, wants to make immediate and swift profits in support of Bush and the current government. Bush doesn't care what will happen afterwards, once he has left the White House."
Host: "Even if it runs counter to American interests?"
Sheik Al-Dhari: "Even if it runs counter to American interests, because, in my view, his behavior and the behavior of the people around him show no consideration for American interests. Otherwise, they would have spoken more candidly to their people about the failure of their enterprise, and they would have withdrawn their forces from this country.
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"I say to the Arab countries: Stop being silent, stop being afraid, and stop ignoring Iraq and its children. The Iraqis have resisted not only for the sake of Iraq, but for the sake of the entire nation. If it had not been for the Iraqis, Bush would have invaded Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. But I say with all honesty that the Iraqi resistance and the Iraqis are the ones who prevented all these scenarios. Therefore, these countries must not remain with their hands tied and remain imprisoned in their fear, hesitation, and indifference. Otherwise, their turn will come, and the formula that some want to implement in Iraq, such as federalism and the other accursed plans, will be implemented in their own countries, heaven forbid.
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"We call upon all the Iraqi people to participate in the referendum on the constitution, and reject it, thus showing those who are behind it that they formulated it against the will of the Iraqi people, and so that the world will know that the Iraqi people is dissatisfied with the occupation and all its plans, and primarily with the distorted constitution, the constitution-monster that, Allah willing, is dead."
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Host: "The resistance – what is your position regarding the resistance?"
Sheik Al-Dhari: "The resistance has now become a reality that cannot be denied, acknowledged by both friends and foes. In addition, resistance is the legitimate right of any people afflicted with disasters like the ones that have afflicted the Iraqi people. Since we are part of this people and have influence, we support the resistance wholeheartedly. We support the resistance by preaching, by saying that it is justified, and that it must continue as long as there is occupation. We are not its leaders, we do not adopt it, and we do not sponsor it, because we barely make ends meet, and not because we are tight-fisted."
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Host: "Today the resistance in Iraq is being criticized for targeting civilians, Shi'ite schools, Shi'ites and Kurds, as some claim. In addition, it targets the National Guard and the Iraqi police, claiming that they are perpetrating worse atrocities than the occupation. What is your position? You represent a religious institution that issues rulings."
Sheik Al-Dhari: "First of all, I am opposed to targeting the innocent, whether civilian or military personnel. I have said this time and again. We have conveyed this through the media, through communiqués, and through conferences and speeches. Since the first year, we have denounced and still denounce the harming of innocent people and of the public national institutions that provide services, such as hospitals, schools, factories, and so on. Most of our communiqués, which today number more than a hundred, deal with this issue. The targeting of innocent civilians and military personnel today comes from a number of directions. I have issued a communiqué in the past, calling this 'terrorism.'
"When I was asked about terrorism, I said it has many sources, which, based on research, I managed to narrow down to five. The first is the occupation, which is the source of terrorism. The second source is the successive governments – the temporary government and the current interim government. The third source is the militias belonging to the parties which make up the administration one way or another, whether they belong to the security forces or not. They too constitute a major source of harming civilians today. The fourth source is the intelligence of the foreign countries, including the American intelligence and its deeds, the Israeli intelligence and its deeds, and the intelligence of some neighboring countries and their deeds – and they are all wreaking devastation on Iraq. [The fifth source] is some groups that claim to belong to the resistance, even though they do not."
