ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (32 page)

 132 
Similar protests soon broke out in Damascus: Dane Vallejo and Michael Weiss, “Syria Media Briefing: A Chronology of Protest and Repression,” The Henry Jackston Society, May 2011,
henryjacksonsociety.org/cms/harriercollectionitems/Syria+Media+Briefing.pdf
.

 132 
One woman held at the Palestine Branch: Fergal Keane, “Syria Ex-Detainees Allege Ordeals of Rape and Sex Abuse,” BBC News, September 25, 2012,
www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19718075
.

 133 
Caesar testified before US Congress: Josh Rogin, “Syrian Defector: Assad Poised to Torture and Murder 150,000 More,”
The Daily Beast
, July 31, 2014,
www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/31/syrian-defector-assad-poised-to-torture-and-murder-150-000-more.html
.

 133 
Stephen Rapp, the State Department’s ambassador-at-large: Josh Rogin, “US: Assad’s ‘Machinery of Death’ Worst Since the Nazis,”
The Daily Beast
, July 7, 2014,
www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/07/u-s-assad-s-machinery-of-death-worst-since-the-nazis.html
.

 134 
one of the favored slogans: “The Syrian regime says, ‘Al Assad or we’ll burn the country down,’” YouTube video, 7:24, posted by Tehelka TV, October 30, 2013,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNBGHaTkgW8
.

 135 
What Zakarya meant: James Reynolds, “Syria Torture Accounts Reinforce Human Rights Concerns,” BBC News, July 3, 2012, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18687422.

 135 
said Shiraz Maher, an expert on radicalization: Interview with one of the authors, November 2014.

 135 
In 2010 Nibras Kazimi published: Nibras Kazimi,
Syria Through Jihadist Eyes: A Perfect Enemy
(Stanford, CA: Hoover Press, 2010), 63.

 136 
“The sectarianism was carefully manufactured . . .”: Interview with one of the authors, November 2014.

 136 
According to one who was detained: Ruth Sherlock, “Confessions of an Assad ‘Shabiha’ Loyalist: How I Raped and Killed for £300 a Month,”
The Telegraph
, July 14, 2012,
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9400570/Confessions-of-an-Assad-Shabiha-loyalist-how-I-raped-and-killed-for-300-a-month.html
.

 137 
Most of them were women and children: Stephanie Nebehay, “Most Houla Victims Killed n Summary Executions: UN,” Reuters, May 29, 2012,
www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/29/us-syria-un-idUSBRE84S10020120529
.

 137 
The shabiha were readily identifiable: Harriet Alexander and Ruth Sherlock, “The Shabiha: Inside Assad’s Death Squads,”
The Telegraph
, June 2, 2012,
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9307411/The-Shabiha-Inside-Assads-death-squads.html
.

 137 
an investigation by the United Nations: “Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic,” Human Rights Council, 21st Session, August 15, 2012,
www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session21/A-HRC-21-50.doc
.

 137 
Victoria Nuland accused Iran: Chris McGreal, “Houla Massacre: US Accuses Iran of ‘Bragging’ about Its Military Aid to Syria,”
The Guardian
, May 29, 2012,
www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/29/houla-massacre-us-accuses-iran
.

 137 
With as many as one hundred thousand recruits: Sam Dagher, “Syria’s Alawite Force Turned Tide for Assad,”
Wall Street Journal
, August 26, 2013,
www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323997004578639903412487708
.

 138 
IRGC operative Sayyed Hassan Entezari said: Axe, 2014.

 138 
Each brigade of the National Defense Force: Ibid.

 138 
Reuters conducted interviews: “Insight: Syrian Government Guerrilla Fighters Being Sent to Iran for Training,” Reuters, April 4, 2013,
www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/04/us-syria-iran-training-insight-idUSBRE9330DW20130404
.

 138 
The camp at which Samer: Farnaz Fassihi, Jay Solomon, and Sam Dagher, “Iranians Dial Up Presence in Syria,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 16, 2013,
www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323864604579067382861808984
.

 138 
According to an Iranian military officer: Ibid.

 139 
the National Defense Force has already: Michael Weiss, “Rise of the Militias,”
NOW Lebanon
, May 21, 2013
now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/rise-of-the-militias
.

 139 
Christian witnesses who spoke to the NGO: “No One’s Left,” Human Rights Watch, September 13, 2013,
www.hrw.org/reports/2013/09/13/no-one-s-left-0
.

 139 
This has resulted in high-profile Iranian fatalities: Filkins, 2013.

 139 
Tehran has relied only on operatives: Farnaz Fassihi and Jay Solomon, “Top Iranian Official Acknowledges Syria Role,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 16, 2012,
online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390443720204578000482831419570
.

 139 
Several members of IRGC Ground Forces: Will Fulton, Joseph Holliday, and Sam Wyer,
Iranian Strategy in Syria
, AEI’s Critical Threats Project & Institute for the Study of War, May 2013,
www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/IranianStrategyinSyria-1MAY.pdf
.

 140 
A report published by the Institute for the Study of War: Ibid.

 140 
former Syrian prime minister Riyad Hijab declared: Karim Sadjadpour, “Iran: Syria’s Lone Regional Ally,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, June 9, 2014
carnegieendowment.org/2014/06/09/syria-s-lone-regional-ally-iran
.

 140 
As early as May 2011: “Administration Takes Additional Steps to Hold the Government of Syria Accountable for Violent Repression Against the Syrian People,” US Department of the Treasury, May 18, 2011,
www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1181.aspx
.

 140 
Such support, as later came to light, included: Michael R. Gordon, “US Presses Iraq on
Iranian Planes Thought to Carry Arms to Syria,”
New York Times
, September 5, 2012,
www.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/world/middleeast/us-presses-iraq-on-iranian-planes-thought-to-carry-arms-to-syria.html
.

 140 
In 2012, when the Iraqis stopped denying: Ibid.

 140 
According to US intelligence: Arash Karami, “Iran News Site Profiles Head of Iraq’s Badr Organization,”
Al-Monitor
, November 13, 2014,
www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/11/iran-news-site-profiles-badr-org.html
.

 141 
In January 2014 the Meir Amit Intelligence: William Booth, “Israeli Study of Foreign Fighters in Syria Suggests Shiites May Outnumber Sunnis,”
Washington Post
, January 2, 2014,
www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/01/02/israeli-study-of-foreign-fighters-in-syria-suggests-shiites-may-outnumber-sunnis
.

 141 
Kata’ib Hezbollah has also lost: Phillip Smyth, “From Karbala to Sayyida Zaynab: Iraqi Fighters in Syria’s Shi’a Militias,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, August 27, 2013,
www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/from-karbala-to-sayyida-zaynab-iraqi-fighters-in-syrias-shia-militias
.

 141 
Ditto Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army: Suadad al-Salhy, “Iraqi Shi’ite Militants Fight for Syria’s Assad,” Reuters, October 16, 2012,
www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/16/us-syria-crisis-iraq-militias-idUSBRE89F0PX20121016
.

 141 
Phillip Smyth, an expert on the Special Groups: Phillip Smyth, “Breaking Badr, The New Season: Confirmation of the Badr Organization’s Involvement in Syria,” Jihadology blog, August 12, 2013,
jihadology.net/2013/08/12/hizballah-cavalcade-breaking-badr-the-new-season-confirmation-of-the-badr-organizations-involvement-in-syria
.

 141 
Iran has even sent “thousands”: Farnaz Fassihi, “Iran Pays Afghans to Fight for Assad,”
Wall Street Journal
, May 22, 2014,
www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304908304579564161508613846
.

 141 
Others are allegedly ex-Taliban fighters: Nick Paton Walsh, “‘Afghan’ in Syria: Iranians Pay Us to Fight for Assad,” CNN, October 31, 2014,
www.cnn.com/2014/10/31/world/meast/syria-afghan-fighter
.

 142 
No IRGC-run subsidiary has been: Martin Chulov, “Syrian Town of Qusair Falls to Hezbollah in Breakthrough for Assad,”
The Guardian
, June 5, 2013,
www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/05/syria-army-seizes-qusair
.

 142 
one Party of God paramilitary confessed: Mona Alami, “Hezbollah Fighter Details Opsin Qusayr,”
NOW Lebanon
, June 4, 2013,
now.mmedia.me/lb/en/interviews/hezbollah-fighter-details-ops-in-qusayr
.

 142 
Abu Rami told the
Guardian
in July 2013: Martin Chulov and Mona Mahmood, “Syrian Sunnies Fear Assad Regime Wants to ‘Ethnically Cleanse’ Alawite Heartland,”
The Guardian
, July 22, 2013,
www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/22/syria-sunnis-fear-alawite-ethnic-cleansing
.

 142 
al-Assad’s first post-uprising interview: Andrew Gilligan, “Assad: Challenge Syria at Your Peril,”
The Telegraph
, October 29, 2011,
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8857898/Assad-challenge-Syria-at-your-peril.html
.

 143 
But in February 2012: Wyatt Andrews, “Clinton: Arming Syrian Rebels Could Help al Qaeda,” CBS News, February 27, 2012,
www.cbsnews.com/news/clinton-arming-syrian-rebels-could-help-al-qaeda
.

 143 
As the Violations Documentation Center: Glenn Kessler, “Are Syrian Opposition Fighters, ‘Former Farmers or Teachers or Pharmacists’?”
Washington Post
, June 26, 2014,
www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/06/26/are-syrian-opposition-fighters-former-farmers-or-teachers-or-pharmacists
.

 144 
As Ambassador Frederic Hof: Frederic Hof, “Saving Syria is No ‘Fantasy,’”
Politico
, August 11, 2014,
www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/08/mr-president-saving-syria-is-no-fantasy-109923.html
.

 145 
he issued a general amnesty: “Assad Orders New Syrian Amnesty,”
Al Jazeera
, June 21, 2011,
www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/06/2011621944198405.html
.

 145 
Muhammad Habash, the former Syrian: Mohammed Habash, “Radicals Are Assad’s Best Friends,”
The National
, January 1, 2014,
www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/radicals-are-assads-best-friends
.

 145 
There’s a famous photograph: Joshua Landis, “Syria’s Top Five Insurgent Leaders,” Syria Comment blog, October 1, 2013
www.joshualandis.com/blog/biggest-powerful-militia-leaders-syria
.

 145 
Future ISIS members were also amnestied: Ahmad al-Bahri, “ISIS Restructures Raqqa Under its New Ruling System,” Syria Deeply, November 17, 2014,
www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2014/11/6388/isis-restructures-raqqa-ruling-system
.

 145 
according to the US State Department: “Designations of Foreign Terrorist Fighters,” US Department of State, September 24, 2014,
www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/09/232067.htm
.

 147 
in January 2014, Major General Fayez Dwairi: Phil Sands, Justin Vela, and Suha Maayeh, “Assad Regime Set Free Extremists from Prison to Fire Up Trouble during Peaceful Uprising,”
The National
, January 21, 2014,
www.thenational.ae/world/syria/assad-regime-set-free-extremists-from-prison-to-fire-up-trouble-during-peaceful-uprising
.

 147 
a twelve-year veteran of Syria’s own Military: Ibid.

 148 
More intriguingly, Fares claimed: Ruth Sherlock, “Exclusive Interview: Why I Defected from Bashar al-Assad’s Regime, by Former Diplomat Nawaf Fares,”
The Telegraph
, July 14, 2012,
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9400537/Exclusive-interview-why-I-defected-from-Bashar-al-Assads-regime-by-former-diplomat-Nawaf-Fares.html
.

 149 
According to journalist Rania Abouzeid: Rania Abouzeid, “The Jihad Next Door,”
Politico
, June 23, 2014.
www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/al-qaeda-iraq-syria-108214.html
.

 149 
Among those making the journey: Ibid.

 149 
Major General Dwairi told the
National
: Sands et al., 2014.

 149 
Though his first point of contact in Hasaka: Abouzeid, 2014.

 149 
What has been established: Ibid.

 149 
Al-Jolani’s cell allegedly waged: “Extremism Hits Home Stopping the Spread of Terrorism,”
Per Concordian
, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2014,
www.marshallcenter.org/mcpublicweb/MCDocs/files/College/F_Publications/perConcordiam/pC_V5N3_en.pdf
.

 150 
Laith Alkhouri said.: Interview with one of the authors, November 2014.

 151 
Al-Jolani later explained to Al Jazeera: “Full Interview with Abu Mohammad al-Jolani,” Internet Archive, posted by Abe Khabbaab (
رجاهملا
بابخ
ىبا
),
archive.org/details/golan2
.