Zarqawi's Cell

On December 9, Evan Kohlmann published several profiles of terrorists from al Qaeda in Iraq's "Distinguished Martyrs" Series at the Counterterrorism Blog. One profile was particularly interesting. Consider Kohlmann's description of "Al-Hajji" Thamer Mubarak:

A former Iraqi military officer who abandoned the Baath Party and became one of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's top terrorist operatives, judged "directly responsible—serving as deputy commander—for carrying out two of the greatest operations that were launched in Iraq": "the killing of the enemy of Allah, servant of the Jews, and leader of the infidels, Mohammed Bakr al-Hakim, [and] the first attack against the United Nations headquarters that wiped out many infidel leaders, including their top leader Sergio de Mello." Al-Hajji Thamer's sister, Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, was the failed female Al-Qaida suicide bomber who targeted the Radisson Hotel in Amman, Jordan on Nov. 9, 2005.

The full profile can be found here. "Al-Hajji" is also the brother of Abu-Ubaidah, another most wanted terrorist who is an associate of Zarqawi.

Now, "Al-Hajji" and his family are not the only former Baathists surrounding Zarqawi. In fact, many of the top terrorists working with Zarqawi are spawns of Saddam's regime.

You have to ask: did they really just start working with each other after the U.S.-led invasion as so many want to believe? It is highly unlikely and there is plenty of reasons to think otherwise. (More on this to follow...)