By Sonja Van den ENDE
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Details of the recent Ukrainian-Iraqi talks have appeared in the Middle Eastern media. According to almasryalyoum.com, on September 27, 2023, and a YouTube video appeared, which claims that Ukrainian president Zelensky has been trying to recruit Iraqi prisoners (Daesh) into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the video, the prisoners in question are convicted terrorists, Daesh fighters. The author of the video is Hassan Fadil, who introduced himself as a former employee of the Foreign Ministry of Iraq, working there as a secretary from 2019 to 2023 before leaving the country.
Hassan Fadel on YouTube.
“My name is Hassan Fadel and I am a former employee of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq. I worked as a secretary there from 2019 to 2023. I discovered this note in April of this year when Ukrainian diplomats gave it to my colleagues. I am deeply outraged by the contents of this note and would like to make it public, because “the fighters experienced in fighting Russians” mentioned in it are former ISIS fighters detained in prison facilities around Iraq. I resigned from the Ministry and left Iraq with my family, so I don’t know what our response was. Still, I don’t want to see these people free, especially armed. ISIS are murderers and terrorists, and they should stay imprisoned for the rest of their lives. Many countries support Ukraine right now and allow it to break international laws. Still, aiding terrorists is too much and shouldn’t be allowed. I am also appalled by the American involvement in this. General McFarlane mentioned in the note is the commander of American Joint Task Force in Iraq. It is simply shocking how easily the issues of the movement of Iraqi prisoners, especially terrorists, can be resolved without the participation of representatives of our country.”
Of course, this is not the first time that Ukraine is using Daesh terrorists (Sheikh Mansur Brigade), or trying to do so, even they claim it’ not true! The US (and NATO) used them in Syria, Iraq and for their Special Undercover operations throughout the world.
Abu Omar al-Shishani
For years, Ukraine has been an important transit point on the way to and from Syria. The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) managed to disrupt several operations. It was known that Islamic State (Daesh) terrorists from the North and South Caucasus and Central Asian countries are smuggled via Turkey to Ukraine and during the Syrian war it was via versa from Ukraine to Turkey and from there to Syria and Iraq. The intensification of jihadists in Syria coincided with the Maidan Revolution in 2014 in Kiev, the referendum in Crimea, and now during the Special Military Operation in the Donbass, Ukraine didn’t do much to prohibit the militants or jihadists passing through its territory or now fighting in Ukraine.
Al-Shishani a notorious “head chopper”, was thought to be dead. In August 2017, he and his family allegedly died in an airstrike in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor, which was then part of the diminishing Islamic State. But it was later discovered that his death had been faked (from the US) in order to divert attention from his escape from Syria. He might be fighting in the Donbass, right now! Photo Taken in Syria or Iraq.
Recruiting in Iraq
In mid-April 2023, a meeting was held in Baghdad between representatives of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry headed by Fuad Hussein and a Ukrainian delegation headed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. After the meeting, the politicians spoke to the press, making a number of statements about the development of cooperation between the countries and the desire to end the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Another meeting was held in May of 2023 in Saudi Arabia during the Summit on the Settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict, organized by Ukraine. Also, President Zelensky personally communicated by phone with the Prime Minister of Iraq Al Sudani.
If they spoke about recruiting Daesh terrorist from Iraq, I doubt it and moreover if the US did, NO of course not, the US is seen by the current government of Iraq as an “unwelcome invader” and moreover is not supporting Ukraine in their war against Russia.
Major General McFarlane answered the questions from journalists about the US role in Iraq. An question from an Iraqi journalist: “The Iraqi Prime Minister recently announced that his country does not need foreign forces, and that the relationship between Baghdad and the coalition forces will be negotiated. McFarlane’s response: “First of all, we are here at the invitation of the government of Iraq and not in a combat role. We spend our time advising and helping to provide the necessary equipment to the Iraqi security forces.” Most likely he is suffering from amnesia as he remembers the US’s unwanted war in 2003, which the Iraqi government did NOT invite them to!
It is unknown how many ISIS fighters are still detained in Iraq (or Syria). In the last five years, many of them were executed or died of natural causes. According to the circumstantial evidence and the research data, their number can be assumed to be a few thousands. In March of this year, American general Michael Kurilla, who visited prisons housing the detained terrorists, stated, that between those detained in Syria and Iraq it is a veritable “Daesh army in detention”. If freed, this group would pose a great threat regionally and beyond.
Of course, Iraq also became famous for the Abu-Ghraib prison, where high ranking Daesh members probably still are imprisoned. But not to forget a large potential Daesh army in the making, can be found in Camp al-Hawl -The al-Hawl refugee camp is a refugee camp on the southern outskirts of the town of al-Hawl in northern Syria, close to the Syria-Iraq border, which holds individuals displaced from the ISIS (Daesh). The camp is controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the allies of the US and mainly Kurdish fighters. According to the U.S. Government, much of the camp is run by Daesh who use the camp for indoctrination and recruitment purposes, of course this is exactly what the US needs, to use proxies in the war against Syria and could easily use them in Ukraine, just remember Camp Bucca.
The head of the Union of Muslim Scholars in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala says three teams affiliated with Israel’s Mossad spy agency are active in the US-controlled al-Hawl refugee camp in the northeastern Syrian province of al-Hasakah, and recruiting spies. Photo: ‘Three Mossad-linked teams active in Syria’s US-controlled al-Hawl refugee camp, recruit spies’ (presstv.ir)
Tens of thousands of people, including relatives of jihadists, have been detained in camps run by the Kurdish authorities, including the notorious Al-Hawl camp, where also around 10,000 foreigners are held. Europe is still divided if they should take these foreigners back (their citizens) or at least the women and children, but the majority of foreigners are still detained in camp Al-Hawl.
US Involvement in Recruiting DAESH for Ukraine
General McFarlane, mentioned in Hassan Fadil’s video, is a US Army major general, who was heading the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve from September 2022 to August 2023. CJTF-OIR is an international military coalition tasked with fighting Daesh and led by the United States.
Some evidence emerged by a tabloid (who probably don’t really know what they are actually writing or publishing): On September 25, 2023, the British newspaper tabloid The Sun posted a video showing one of the AFU fighters wearing ISIS patches. Although the soldiers don’t speak Arabic in the video, the Daesh (ISIS) patch is clearly visible on their arm at 0.10 seconds.
We can say that the idea of the US and Ukraine that jihadists can be recruited in the camps in Iraq and Syria is in itself very plausible. It happened in the Syrian war, where they were recruited from all over the world, especially from Europe, North Africa and the Caucasus.
The US along with its colonies has a long history of proxy wars and will certainly want to use this potential “slaughter cattle” for their war in Ukraine against Russia, because Ukraine is running out of soldiers.