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Saddams death squad
By Mark Armstrong
National/World Co-Editor
FILE PHOTO
Saddam Hussein meets with top officials. His son Uday, commander of the Fedayeen, is pictured second from right.
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Saddam Hussein’s most trusted and ruthless paramilitary militia, the Fedayeen Saddam, has been known to assassinate Hussein’s enemies, crush internal revolts and brutally crack down on political dissidents since its founding in 1995.
Now, as United States coalition forces are rapidly advancing toward Baghdad, the Fedayeen, whose name when translated means “those ready to sacrifice themselves for Saddam,” have put up stiff resistance, infusing themselves with Iraq’s regular army units to bolster their loyalty and prvent them from surrendering.
Reports from the front suggest that the Fedayeen have been posing as Iraqi civilians, faking surrender, in an effort to lure U.S. and coalition troops into traps. Such scenes have played out in Nasiriyah and the port of Umm Qasr, leading to the capture of several United States troops.
The guerrilla fighters were formed to quash disturbances by Shiite Muslims in central and southern Iraq. The recruits, extremely loyal to the ruling Baath party include youth predominantly from rural areas, most of whom are pardoned criminals who cannot get into universities and otherwise would not make it in life.
Military analysts estimate the forces could number up to 40,000, divided into brigades of 3,000 each. Their training, poor compared to American standards, includes urban warfare and suicide missions.
They dress in black uniforms and cover the heads with black scarves used to instill fear. Still, they have been known to operate in civilian clothes.
According to Iraqi informants, Saddam reportedly trusts this force even more than his elite Republican Guard units.
“They have blind loyalty, they might even kill their fathers if they are ordered to do so,” Ail Abdel Amir, an Iraqi journalist operating in Jordan, told the Associated Press.
The Fedayeen caught the attention of the international community in 2000, when human rights groups documented several eyewitness accounts of public executions of women in the streets of Baghdad and the southern port city of Basra. According to reports, several woman were publicly beheaded outside their homes by Fedayeen death squads in what was deemed a “cleanup of prostitutes.”
In comparison to the violent vigilante justice meted out by various Iraqi security and intelligence units, the Fedayeen rank at the top of the paramilitary pecking order.
They are also among the most unpopular, organized by Uday Hussein, Saddam’s eldest son, to be his private militia.
During a press briefing at Central Command Headquarters in Qatar, allied commander General Tommy Franks said that the Fedayeen were harassing rear guard troops on the move towards Baghdad.
Earlier this month, United States officials claimed Fedayeen members acquired military uniforms “down to the last detail” to those worn by American and British forces, planning to use them in crimes against civilians and then shift the blame for the atrocities on the United States.
Senior administration officials said multiple reports show evidence that the Fedayeen wearing these uniforms have entered villages and executed locals who refused to join them in guerilla warfare.
While the Fedayeen are paid better than Iraqi regulars,and therefore much more loyal to Saddam, most U.S. intelligence officials believe the would not be expected to put up a tenacious fight to the end.
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