Three weeks after Saddam Hussein was caught, the Iraqi resistance is as intractable as ever, though the coalition stepped up its campaign to wipe out insurgents in Baghdad. Threats of a "Christmas Surprise" came true this week as a barrage of rockets, mortars and suicide bombings throughout the country left more than 10 US soldiers dead, countless Iraqis dead or injured and the general security situation still poor. The skies over Baghdad rumbled with explosions and artillery fire, most of it aimed at coalition targets and civilian targets. Rebels launched a series of synchronized rocket, mortar, gunfire and bomb attacks in Baghdad - the most serious insurgent action since Saddam's capture, hitting the Sheraton Palace hotel in the city on two occasions and the CPA's "Green Zone". Nobody was killed and the military dismissed the insurgent offensive as a "random and irresponsible" terrorist act.
In the mean time, the coalition went on the offensive with operation Iron Grip, launching a barrage on successive nights against suspected resistance targets in the South of Baghdad. Heavy machine gun fire, artillery and missile fire underscored a sense of a city still at war. But as the barrage continued overhead, Fathel was undeterred as he sat comfortably at home. The resistance is not likely to ebb any time soon. The question today is whether the resistance will become even more intractable. "The resistance will never end," Fathel warned confidently.
A day before Baghdad fell last April, Fathel received clear orders from his superiors. "Send your family away and rent a house in the outskirts of Baghdad," he was told. The order came from a high level Ba'ath leader. The Fedayeen leadership was told to lay low and quiet; their commanders would know where to find them, and messengers would travel back and forth relaying orders, advice and news. For months, now, they have been active, unleashing a deadly campaign intended to drive out the coalition and stop Iraqis from working with the foreign forces. Two weeks after the fall of the regime, Fathel was ordered to head to Ramadi to meet Saddam Hussein, he thought. As it turned out, Saddam never showed up. But the ragtag group of onetime military leaders was told that Saddam was well and was encouraging all to lead the resistance against the US troops.
A week later, in another ad-hoc meeting, the commanders divided Fathel and his cohorts into groups and told them that they would constitute Mohammad's Second Army. Fathel said that later they carried out many plans and operations.
Fathel claims he was frequently ill and was often unable to take part in the operations. Eventually he was excused from day to day operations, but remained involved nonetheless. In June, he received the next major order: he was to sell everything and in particular the cars, houses and lands that the government had given him and await new orders. "We were happy to do this and many of us had already sold our cars in the first months after the fall of Baghdad," he claims. With cash in hand, he waited for further word. Then one day it came: Fathel was ordered to head to Amman for yet another major meeting. "When I went to Amman I was shocked by the numbers of my colleagues and friends from the Ba'ath socialist party there, as well as by the presence of many ex-security men," he admitted. "They told me that they had gone to Jordan after the fall of Baghdad and continued to prepare operations from there and had stayed in touch with Saddam's family, many of whom were now in Jordan."
Numerous former Ba'ath members flooded the Jordanian capital during the summer months, many of them with ready cash in hand sufficient to buy real estate and more. In ritzy Amman neighborhoods like Deir Ghbar, new buildings have been erected in recent months fetching some of the highest prices in the city. These buildings are occupied by members of Saddam Hussein's former regime and their compatriots, including high ranking former Ba'ath members. The most famous Iraqis in town, Saddam Hussein's daughters Raghad and Rana, are also getting on with life in a three-story white stone guesthouse in the Royal Palace that used to belong to the late King Hussein.
Flush with money, gold and jewelry they brought with them from Iraq, the new 'migr's are splashing money around. Whether at Amman's new Mecca Mall, or at luxury clothing and jewelry stores in flashy neighborhoods like Abdoun and Sweifieh, Iraqi exiles, with their slightly out of style fashions and decidedly Tikriti accents are making their dollars felt. "Iraqis are keeping a lot of us in business these days," admitted one Amman jeweler last month. "It's dangerous in Iraq, so they're bringing their money to here."
But Fathel did not stay long in Amman. He returned to Baghdad days later, where he has remained operating quietly. "After I went back to Baghdad I had many more meetings with the Ba'ath leaders and they were all in good spirits," he claims. But Fathel insists he has not been involved directly in attacks against US soldiers, but has only been hearing about them.
Nonetheless Fathel describes an intricate resistance network more like a series of bee colonies than a centrally controlled army. Messages are sent via trusted messengers who know how to reach individual members. The cells operate relatively independently and freely, so that the arrest or killing of one will not affect the others. But there are far more secretive procedures that Fathel would not discuss. Ultimately, these secrets lie at the heart of the continued resistance, for which military might still appears a losing strategy.
