Introduction and Analysis
Following on from the previous post on the latest statement from the General Military Council for Iraq's Revolutionaries (GMCIR), it is worth noting this obituary published by the GMCIR on the same day for a renowed Iraqi general who was a mainstay on the country's military scene for decades and passed away recently in Jordan. His career included service in the Saddam-era army and Defence Ministry until the fall of Baghdad to the U.S. invasion in 2003, after which he went into exile in Jordan, where the current GMCIR network is partly based.
The main areas of operation on the ground in Iraq for the GMCIR are Ramadi, Hīt (an Anbar locality still under government control because of local cooperation), the al-Karma area (but not the main urban area that is under the control of the Islamic State, which drove out Jaysh al-Mujahideen in late August), north Baghdad province, and the outer peripheries of Fallujah and Tikrit.
One of the notable aspects of the GMCIR's image- a parallel with the Jaysh Rijal al-Tariqa al-Naqshbandia's [JRTN] self-portrayal as an 'extension' of the old Iraqi army- is its featuring Saddam-era army officers in its ranks. In any case, note also the language of this obituary in speaking of the "deceased of the Arab Ummah..." in referring to the deceased: compare with the JRTN's frequent references to the "Arab Islamic Ummah" in keeping with the Arab nationalist component of its ideology. This points to the affinities between the GMCIR and JRTN, and by extension, Harith al-Dhari and the JRTN.
Translation (original statement here)
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
"Whosoever goes out from his home in emigration towards God and His Messenger, then death overtakes him: already his reward has become an obligation on God: truly God is all-Forgiving, all-Merciful"- Qur'a 4:100
With the greatest sadness and satisfaction with God's judgment, the General Military Council for Iraq's Revolutionaries mourns the deceased of the Arab Ummah and the Iraqi army: the martyr General Abd al-Jabbar Shanshal who died in exile and far from his homeland to which he devoted his life to defending along with its people.
The deceased has departed bearing the highest decorations of love for the military establishment and its appreciation for him, after a long battle with illnesses that lasted a number of years, far from his people and loved ones: that it should be clear to the people the extent of the malice and hatred of the occupation's governments and proprietors of servitude to the enemy of the noble and faithful- [hatred and malice they show out of] loyalty to their masters.
Thou hast perished, o apple of the eye, sir, but your sons by pledge have not despaired for lack of strength, and will not shy away or submit for the sake of the dignity and might of the dignified people of Iraq.
Indeed we belong to God and to Him do we return.
General Military Council for Iraq's Revolutionaries
20 September 2014