People with beards

I haven't blogged about Iraq much, but this is a must read piece on how many of the insurgents in Iraq have come from Syria and Saudia Arabia over the Syrian border to fight in a jihad based on belief on "salafism, or 'following the pious forefathers'...a fundamentalist, sometimes militant strain of the faith grounded in turning back the clock to the time of the prophet Muhammad."

The article is based on interviews with a man who claims he has been one of the leaders of the smuggling operation.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, the notion of jihad has "had a galvanizing impact on the imagination and reflexes" of many young Muslim men, especially those with the means and resources to travel, according to a recent report by the International Crisis Group, based in Brussels.

"They think jihad will stop if they kill hundreds of us in Iraq," Abu Ibrahim said with a note of defiance. "They don't know what they are facing. Every day, more and more young men from around the Muslim world are awaking and coming to the jihad principle.

"Now the Americans are facing thousands, but one day soon they will have to face whole nations."