Iraqi Resistance Leader to Al-Ahed: Relying on Resistance Takes Us Closer to Praying in Al-Quds 

By Mostafa Awada

He is one of the key pillars of the Iraqi resistance movement and a jihadi leader who played a prominent role in liberating his country from the Daesh terror group. The United States, which created Daesh, and the temporary Zionist entity, wanted to divide Iraq.

The borders established by the so-called Sykes–Picot Agreement did not prevent him from standing up to the plot against Syria and announcing his readiness to go to Yemen and Palestine. The United States did not intimidate him with its threats.

Nor was he deterred from his call to jihad and resistance by American and “Israeli” attacks the positions of the battalions that he has been leading since 2014. He became a leader in the axis of resistance during the reign of his two brothers, martyrs Hajj Qassem Soleimani and Hajj Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.

He is known for being close to and having a fraternal relationship with the forces of the resistace, including Hezbollah, the Palestinian factions, and the Ansarullah movement in Yemen.

His name is Hajj Abu Alaa al-Walai, the Secretary General of the Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.

He spoke with Al-Ahed News on the occasion of International Quds Day, which this year coincides with the 20th anniversary of the American occupation of Iraq.

Below is the full transcript of the interview:

Q: On the 20th anniversary of the American occupation of Iraq, how do you assess the role of the Iraqi resistance in thwarting US projects in the country and the region?

A: We condole you on the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace be upon him), and we ask God to accept yours and our deeds in the holy month of Ramadan and the blessed nights of al-Qadr.

Before the fall of the tyrant and his criminal Baath [Party] in 2003, the Iraqi Islamic movements sensed the imminent danger facing the country because of the mechanism employed to overthrow the the regime, which centered on a direct American military intervention that would inevitably lead to US tutelage and occupation.

The men of the resistance anticipated this outcome, which later became reality. The Iraqi resistance factions dealt with it firmly and courageously through thousands of military operations that inflicted heavy losses on the American occupation.

These losses were confirmed by official reports despite attempts to cover them up and were acknowledged by the occupation itself on more than one occasion. The death toll among American troops stood in the thousands, with thousands more wounded, in addition to material losses amounting to trillions of dollars.

This prompted the American occupiers to lose their balance. They were no longer comfortable with moving within or between cities and were forced to retreat to their bases, which weren’t spared from repeated strikes over a period of eight years.

In 2011, they were forced out in a humiliating manner after the so-called strategic framework agreement, when the American occupiers sat submissively across from the Iraqi negotiator.

The Iraqi resistance was an invulnerable barrier standing in the way of the American projects in the country. It blocked attempts to violate Iraq’s sovereignty and turning it into a wasteland for the occupation in the region and the world, which declared its sponsorship for the establishment of terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and others that shed a lot of innocent Iraqi blood.

The Iraqi resistance and the Hashd al-Shaabi

Q: The pivotal role of the Iraqi resistance in establishing the Hashd [al-Shaabi] is no secret. How would you describe the relationship between the Iraqi resistance and the Hashd al-Shaabi today?

A: The Iraqi resistance was present on the outskirts of Baghdad before the establishment of the Hashd al-Shaabi [the Popular Mobilization Units] and prevented the fall of the capital to Daesh after Mosul and a number of cities had fallen.

After the supreme religious authority issued the fatwa for defensive jihad and more than three million people from the southern and central governorates heeded the call of the fatwa, the Iraqi resistance factions played a key role in receiving, equipping, and training the huge numbers of volunteers, especially since the military institutions were unable to receive them. The military lacked logistic resources, the infrastructure, and their moral had decline following the fall of Mosul.

The Iraqi resistance played a prominent role in establishing the pillars of the Hash al-Shaabi at the level of training, equipment, planning, leadership, and direct engagement with the enemy.

We do not forget the historical role of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the brothers in Lebanon’s Hezbollah, who were there during the first hours after the fall of Mosul. They opened their weapons depots for free and sent hundreds of their leaders, headed by martyred commander Hajj Qassem Soleimani, to train the Hashd al-Shaabi forces on how to use modern weapons.

They fought shoulder-to-shoulder with their brothers in the Iraqi resistance, the Hashd al-Shaabi, and the security forces against the terrorist gangs of Daesh until their blood mixed with the blood of the martyrs of Iraq.

Perhaps one of the most unique components of the liberation battles was the presence of the leaders of the resistance and the Hashd along the frontlines. They were headed by the immortal martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and the rest of the brothers, the leaders of the resistance and the Hashd.

All of this laid the foundations for an ideological, jihadist, and patriotic relationship between the resistance and the Hashd drawn by the blood of martyrdom.

Palestine and the axis of resistance

Q: Given the current atmosphere of military escalations by the Zionist entity in the occupied Palestinian territories within the framework of the axis of resistance, what is your message to Palestine, its people, its resistance, and the enemy?

We believe that the occupation is one, even if its titles, names, and perpetrators differ. The main drivers of oppression of peoples stem from the same imperial powers that do not want countries to live with honor, dignity, and independence.

The resistance movements in the region and the world stem from the same religious and moral concept that allows them to adopt all possible means of resistance to expel all forms of occupation.

In this sense, we believe that we are part of the Palestinian resistance factions and they are part of us. We stand with them with full force in their legitimate war to confront the usurping Zionist entity.

We assure them that victory is inevitably coming and that the measly entity is doomed to disappear as long as their [the Palestinians’] fingers are on the trigger of dignity and their feet are planted in the trenches of honor.

We also affirm to the Zionist occupation that the right of the Palestinian people to regain their occupied lands and liberate the holy city of Al-Quds from its dirty clutches is inevitable.

The right of the Palestinian people to their land and sanctities does not lapse by statute of limitations, no matter how powerful the criminal killing machines and the unjust shovels of demolition of the hybrid Zionist entity are.

International Quds Day

Q: On International Quds Day, what is your message to the Arab and Muslim world on this occasion?

A: International Quds Day, which was proclaimed by the late Imam Khomeini, is not just a passing historical event, but rather a reorientation of the compass of the Islamic peoples towards their basic cause, which must remain present in their consciences and be the highest priority of the free people, no matter how evil forces try to divert attention from it.

We affirm that International Quds Day has become a nightmare for the Zionists after it become a global occasion that brings together all the resistance movements in the world under one banner of glory, dignity, and sovereignty.

The path to al-Quds passes through living consciences, just as the path of certainty in victory passes through hearts with faith. The more the oppressed Islamic people rely on the choice of resistance and embrace the heroes of the resistance, the closer we are to praying in al-Quds.