UFO ROUNDUP Volume 8 Number 27
Volume 8
Number 27
July 23rd, 2003
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
LAKE MONSTERS SIGHTED IN NORTHERN CHINA
"China's legendary 'Lake Tianchi Monster' has surfaced anew, with local officials reporting sightings of as many as 20 of the mysterious and unidentified creatures" in Lake Tianchi, near the border with North Korea.
"Sightings of the strange beast--China's version of the 'Loch Ness Monster'--date back more than a century, but like Scotland's famed Nessie, reports vary and remain unconfirmed."
"On the morning of Friday, July 11 (2003), several local government cadres caught sight of a school of mysterious creatures swimming through the lake in the Changbai Mountains, in northeastern Jilin province, the Beijing Youth Daily said on Tuesday," July 15, 2003.
"'Within fifty minutes, the monsters appeared five times,'" the newspaper "quoted one of the officials, Provincial Forestry Bureau vice director Zhang Lufeng as saying. 'At times there was one; at times there were several. The last time, there were about as many as twenty.'"
"He said the creatures, two to three kilometers (1.25 to 2 miles) in the distance, appeared only as white or black spots. But from the ripples in the water, he and the others determined that the spots were 'living beings.'"
Chinese "officials were not reachable for comment."
"In 1903, according to local records, a creature resembling a huge (water) buffalo, with a deafening roar, sprang out of the water and attempted to attack three people before one of them shot it in the belly six times. The beast roared and disappeared back into the water."
"A more recently documented sighting compared the head of the monster to that of a human--except with big round eyes, a protruding mouth and a neck 1.2 to 1.5 meters (4 to 5 feet) long. It also had a white ring separating the head and torso and smooth gray skin." (See the Beijing Youth Daily for July 15, 2003. Many thanks to Jim Hickman for forwarding this newspaper article.)
CHUPACABRAS GO ON A RAMPAGE IN CHILE
"A couple from Vina del Mar," just north of Valparaiso, Chile, "went through a horrifying experience after becoming aware that a strange animal, allegedly the Chupacabra, had entered into their backyard where it attacked the family's ducks."
"One of the ducks suffered a perfect perforation in its spine. The remaining three disappeared."
"Most stunning for the protagonists of the event was that they managed to see the animal face-to-face and even strike it repeatedly with a metal cart. But the intruder managed to escape. Its escape path was not ascertained."
"This strange event was recorded early Wednesday morning," July 9, 2003. "The witnesses were Juan Silva and Veronica Vildasola, residents of the Calle Las Maravillas (street) in the town of Santa Julia. Both were hesitant about disclosing their experience, since they feared they would not be believed."
"Veronica Vildasola states that on the day in question, around 5 a.m., she heard strange noises. 'First I heard blows (thumps) on neighboring rooftops. It was like something jumping from one rooftop to another.'"
"She added, 'I suddenly heard something like a very heavy bird that landed on our roof. It immediately started to scratch the rooftop with its claws.'"
"Faced with the fear that the animal or bird would attack the ducks kept in the backyard or the hens in their coops, she woke up her husband (Silva) so he could go out and take a look."
"Juan Silva says, 'Upon going outside, I saw an animal that wasn't a dog in spite of looking like a dog. It was in a corner, hunched over the spine of one of the ducks it had caught.'"
"'I got closer, hurling the wrench I held in my hand. But since it didn't move, I began to strike it with the handle of a metal hand-cart that was in the yard. The animal made some strange sounds, like moans of pain. Had it been a dog, it would have barked and yelped. But that wasn't the case.'"
"Silva added that the creature 'had very shiny eyes.'"
"His wife continued the story: 'I was holding a stick with which to strike what I thought was a dog. That's when I saw the creature trying to escape. It did so in a semi-erect position, as though walking hunched over on two legs. It looked at me, and I also saw its shiny eyes. I don't know if I was paralyzed with fear or for another reason.'"
"The couple indicated that the neighbors' dogs began to bark like never before."
"The mysterious creature's escape was also a subject of high strangeness for the protagonists of the event. 'Later on, we tried to see clearly which way the animal could have escaped, but we couldn't find any point through which it could have crossed. We think it could have only flown away,' said the woman."
"They noted that the animal only left some claw marks in the dirt. 'These don't match dogs' paws, either,' stated Juan Silva."
"Valparaiso, Vina del Mar and Quillota have been the scenes of similar episodes in recent years. No logical explanation has hitherto been found for any of them. For this reason, those affected by poultry deaths have ascribed the attack to the alleged Chupacabras."
"Furthermore, the case recorded in Santa Julia coincides in several aspects with the two latest cases known in Quillota. One of these is that the creature appears during the early-morning hours, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. The other is that, when faced by humans, these people notice a strange eye glow that leaves them paralyzed."
Elsewhere in Chile, "sedate residents of the La Palmilla sector of the peaceful commune of Rauco in the Sixth Region were startled to find 29 hens with their legs in the air, completely exsanguinated (drained of blood-- J.T.), and with twin bites on their necks. The peasantry were shocked at the find and, without thinking, assigned blame to the now-legendary Chupacabra, which had attacked again."
"They had no doubts in their views, because, aside from the birds, the hens--which were all egg-layers--were completely dry, as though some unknown beast had sucked their last drop of blood."
"Still trembling from their fear of the Chupacabras, and concerned by the loss of their birds, the residents noted that the deaths had occurred simultaneously in two neighboring homes on Tuesday morning," July 15, 2003.
"What is strange about the matter and causes belief in a supernatural animal prone to vampirism is that no resident heard noises, which is very strange given the fact that hens tend to be very vocal if attacked. Even the guard dogs in both houses never realized what was going on, and never made a fuss."
"The first attack affected the house of Maria Carolina Bravo, who lost 24 hens."
"According to this woman, upon inspecting the henhouse, she found the hole through which some animal of the Chupacabras could have gotten through. The woman did not hear any sounds, either."
"Martha Varas was speechless when she found five dead hens, slain in the same mysterious fashion, in her backyard."
"Carabineros (Chilean national police--J.T.) of the Rauco cuartel (barracks) appeared immediately and witnessed" the crime scene and its "inexplicable hen slaying for themselves." (See the Chilean newspapers La Estrella de Valparaiso for July 12, 2003, "Chupacabra gets a beating," and La Cuarta of Temuco for July 17, 2003, "Terror spreads among farmers of La Palmilla." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Gloria Coluchi para esos articulos de diario.)
MYSTERY FIREBALL SIGHTED IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA
"The St. Louis County (Minnesota) Sheriff's Department says a large fiery object--seen by residents of Aurora, Babbitt and Ely at 5:24 p.m. Thursday," July 17, 2003--was most likely a meteor."
"The Sheriff's Department took several calls late Thursday afternoon from eyewitnesses who reported seeing the object and hearing loud noise."
"After checking with Duluth International Airport and determining that no planes were missing, the Sheriff's Department concluded that it was a meteor entering the atmosphere, and the noise was a sonic boom."
Aurora (population 1,850), Babbitt (population 1,670) and Ely (population 3,724) are located in the Vermilion Iron Range about 210 miles (336 kilometers) north of Minneapolis. (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for July 18, 2003, "Object said to be meteor," page 2B.)
DAYLIGHT DISC SPOTTED IN STURBRIDGE, MASS.
On Sunday, July 13, 2003, at 7:15 p.m., Bob Zalewski reported, "My wife Vicky and myself spotted a silver craft for maybe two to three seconds. It was a teardrop shape. When we tried to see it again, it was gone."
"It was sunny and no clouds in sight. We were heading east on (Interstate Highway) I-84 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, about four miles (7 kilometers) north of" Mashapaug Pond in Union, Connecticut.
"There was no place in the sky where it could hide. There was only open space. At arm's length, it appeared to be the size of a quarter-carat diamond. I'd say it was about 28,000 feet (8,400 meters) up. We swear that it was no plane."
Sturbridge, Mass. (population 2,047) is on Routes 20 and 131, located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Boston. (Email Form Report)
NIGHT SAUCER SIGHTED IN BOULDER, COLORADO
On Saturday, July 5, 2003, at 12:10 a.m., five witnesses saw a UFO "come over the northwestern horizon over mountains" in Boulder, Colorado (population 94,673). It headed northeast after dancing in the sky for a few hours" until 5:20 a.m. "There were five of us who saw it, and we were facing northwest."
"It was a disc-shaped object with many different colored lights. Moved like nothing I've ever seen," the witness reported.
At first, "we noticed a bright light up behind the tree line. The light changed to many different colors but flashed a brilliant red the most. It rose to the top of the tree and hovered and flashed for about ten minutes or so."
"Then it started making erratic movements up, down, left and right very fast."
"There was a second object that rose from the same area but was closer and more to the south of the other object. It rose and flew to the right of the other object, flashed a bright white light and then vanished."
"The other object disappeared for about ten seconds, then reappeared over the top of us at a very high altitude. It danced from right to left in very fast movements. It then disappeared again and then reappeared back over the tree line. It flashed a very bright greenish-blue light at the ground. It did this in various spots over the tree line. It then started to rise back into the sky and disappeared."
Boulder, Colo. is on Highways 36 and 19, located approximately 26 miles (42 kilometers) northwest of Denver. (Email Form Report)
SILVER SPHERE UFO SEEN IN LINCOLNSHIRE, UK
On Friday, July 18, 2003, at 4 p.m., Kevin M. reported, "My father saw a bright silver round object, travelling from the northeast to the southwest" over Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, UK. "The object was very high in a clear blue sky, small amount of cloud, no engine noise. Real bright silver, very high, no contrails, a lot faster than a military fighter, almost instant speed." (Email Form Report)
SADDAM HUSSEIN: ALIVE...AND KICKING!
"The CIA was analyzing a new audiotape in which a voice attributed to Saddam Hussein calls for a religious war to oust occupying troops."
"An Arab satellite TV network aired the tape Thursday," July 17, 2003, "the 35th anniversary of the coup that brought Saddam's Baath Party to power."
"The speaker praises towns" like Fallujah and Ramadi "where U.S. troops repeatedly have come under attack and accusing Iraqi officials cooperating with the U.S.-led coalition of being lackeys."
"It was the third audiotape allegedly of Saddam to be aired since Baghdad fell to U.S. forces on April 9 (2003)."
"U.S. officials said the voice sounds like Saddam's, Reuters news service reported. The outsted Iraqi dictator's whereabouts have been a mystery since the coalition attacked Iraq on March 19 (2003). U.S. forces are operating on the assumption that he is alive and probably hiding in northern Iraq in and around Tikrit, his hometown and former power base."
A month ago, coalition forces captured Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, Saddam's top aide. "Mahmud has reportedly told U.S. interrogators that attempts to kill Saddam during the war failed and that Saddam and his two sons," Uday and Qusay, "are alive."
Mahmud was captured during Operation Desert Scorpion "when U.S. Special Forces and infantry soldiers of the 22nd Infantry Battalion, 4th Infantry Division burst through the door of the single-story brown stucco house at No. 29 Al-Qaaed Street" in Qadissiya and "shouted, 'We have come for Saddam Hussein!'"
Saddam Hussein wasn't there during the raid, but the Americans did capture Mahmud, "the presidential secretary who seemed to always be at (Saddam) Hussein's side before the regime fell in April."
"The house where Mahmud al-Tikriti was hiding belonged to an Iraqi army officer named Ahmed Rega," reported Ayesha al-Khatabi, UFO Roundup's correspondent in the Middle East. "He had a wife, Kafe Awad, and they had four children. Kafe said she was approached by an old family friend, Ahmed al-Delef, who asked if they could put up an itinerant laborer for the night. Kafe said, 'We are Arabs. We can't say no when someone asks for hospitality.'"
Kafe Awad "prepared tea and busied herself making dinner as her two small daughters and her 13- and 7-year- old sons padded about the house. After they gave Mahmud a meal of chicken, rice and yogurt...he dozed on the embroidered red mats that line the sides of the 6-by-3- meter (20 by 10 feet) living room. Around midnight, the men moved up to the roof to sleep in the cool air. An hour later, U.S. forces arrived."
"Some of my Iraqi sources think Ahmed Al-Delef is a member of a secret brotherhood. There is much talk of a shadowy group called Al-Awda (Arabic for The Return--J.T.) This may refer to the return of the Baath Party to power," Ayesha explained, "But it may have a dual meaning. The name might also refer to the return of the Prophet Mohammed--peace be upon him--during the Last Days in his guise of the Secret Imam. This would suggest some Sufi influence in Al-Awda, but no one can say for sure."
(Editor's Note: The Sufis are a sect of mystics within Islam.)
Another "secret brotherhood" which has been operating in Iraq since April is Al-Farooq. "The group is composed of former Iraqi army officers and soldiers," reported Mohammed Hajj al-Amdar, "They wish to see an end to the occupation of Iraq. They are not necessarily with Saddam Hussein, although he and his sons are negotiating with them. Right now, there is no broad-based Iraqi Resistance Front, but the situation is gradually moving in that direction."
Mohammed added that the "souk gossip" has Saddam Hussein in hiding in either al-Ouja, a village just north of Tikrit, or in al-Karkh, the hometown of Saddam's long- dead mother, Subha al-Tulfah. Al-Ouja is also said to be the location of a large underground base that was built for Saddam by extraterrestrials friendly to his regime. (See USA Today for July 18, 2003, "Alleged Saddam tape urges religious war," page 4A. Also the Chicago Tribune for June 18, 2003, "U.S. forces were looking for Hussein, got deputy," pages 1 and 4. Also USA Today for June 23, 200, "U.S.: Belief that Saddam is alive feeds resistance," page 4A. Many thanks to Ayesha al-Khatabi and Mohammed Hajj al-Amdar for these reports.)
(Editor's Comment: For more on "secret brotherhoods" in Iraq, check out the feature story in this issue.)
JAPANESE MOUNTAINEER TO HUNT FOR YETI
"A 60-year-old Japanese mountaineer will form a seven-member party to leave for a two-month Himalayan mission" in August 2003 "in a quest for the legendary Yeti, according to his family."
"Yoshiteru Takahashi, 60, will leave Japan for Nepal on August 10 (2003) with five other men. A seventh is to join the party in the (Nepalese) capital Kathmandu, Takahashi's wife, Masako, said."
"'He has been convinced of the Yeti's existence for three decades and believes searching for it is the last romantic mission left in the Himalayas,' she said."
"Few have even claimed to have seen the Yeti, but tracks in the snow, rare photos--often fuzzy--excretions, hairs and disputed testimonies are some of the elements that continue to fuel the debate on the Abominable Snowman."
(Editor's Note: Some researchers think the word Yeti is a corruption of the Sherpa phrase meteh kangmi, which means snow creature.)
"Half man, half monkey, it is said to live high up in the thick forests of Nepal and Tibet, where it is known locally by the name of Migou."
"Takahashi's party, ranging in age from 31 to 60, is to stay on the Dhaulagiri (Translated: White Mountain) massif, whose main peak is 8,167 metres (26,950 feet) high."
"They hope to track the Yeti down by setting up at least four infra-red cameras."
"Takahashi climbed the Dhaulagiri peaks twice in the 1970s and once in 1982. He returned there in 1994 for the sole purpose of finding the Yeti--in vain."
"He failed to find the Yeti although he smelled a strong animal scent and found barefoot footprints that resembled a small human child and measured between 10 and 20 centimetres (4 and 8 inches), his 56-year-old wife said."
"'I know I cannot stop him as we have been married for 27 years, and I want people to understand that he is serious about this mission,' she said."
"The party is being provided with logistic support from" the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. (See the Australian Broadcasting Corp. news report of July 15, 2003. Many thanks to Loren Coleman for this transcript.)
KAZAKH MOM KEPT DEAD DAUGHTER AS A MUMMY
"A distraught Kazakh mother kept her daughter's mummified corpse in her apartment for three years hoping she would be resurrected by aliens, police said on Thursday," July 17, 2003.
Police spokeswoman Nina Tsys reported "from the town of Pavlovar in northern Kazakhstan that Olga, 27, was believed to have died from an autoimmune disorder after her mother failed--or declined--to call for medical help."
"She said Olga's cousin, worried by her long absence, repeatedly tried to see her, but the mother would always refuse to let her in under various pretexts. Finally, police broke in and made the gruesome discovery."
"'We believe death was from natural causes, although due to the long time passed we cannot be absolutely sure,' Tsys said, 'At least we found no signs of vandalism.'"
"The popular Kazakh daily newspaper Vremya carried a picture of the mummified body, with withered hands and parched skin, lying on a plain bed in the industrial town" of Pavlovar.
"Vremya suggested that the mother--a former nurse-- could have known how to treat the body to preserve it."
"Tsys said the mother appeared to have been influenced by a sect preaching 'Cosmology' that promised resurrection of the dead with the help of a 'third cosmic eye' or by aliens."
"She said the mother was undergoing medical checks at a psychiatric clinic. Her daughter's remains have been given a proper burial." (See the Kazakh newspaper Vremya for July 17, 2003. Many thanks to Jim Hickman for forwarding this newspaper article.)
GORDON CREIGHTON DIES IN ENGLAND AT AGE 95
On Wednesday morning, July 16, 2003, author, ufologist and magazine editor Gordon Creighton died at the age of 95.
"Up until his death, the former British diplomat was the editor of Flying Saucer Review," one of the world's best known UFO magazines.
"Graham W. Birdsall, editor of the UK's UFO Magazine, said, 'Gordon Creighton was arguably one of Ufology's greatest-ever proponents. For the best part of 50 years, he sought out information on the phenomenon from around the world, and his lasting legacy will be that which he came to publish in Flying Saucer Review. He was a remarkable man in every respect, and the world of Ufology will mourn his passing.'" (Many thanks to Loren Coleman and Graham W. Birdsall for this report.)
From the UFO Files...
1941: IRAQ AND THE ILLUMINATI
The growing guerrilla war in Iraq has shown Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to be far more resilient than anyone realized. To understand their resilience and grass-roots strength, one must look at the party's mystical origins.
Columnist Maureen Dowd says the Arabic word Baath stands for resurrection.
But Baath is not a word that translates well into English. A better synonym would be the Italian word Risorgimento.
Actually, the party had its origin in the little town of Asadabad in western Iran. Here, in 1839, was born Sayyid Jamal ad-Din, a Muslim mystic sometimes known as al-Afghani (Arabic for the Afghan--J.T.) and "the Sage of the East."
Jamal ad-Din was raised as a Shiite Muslim and, in 1845, his family enrolled him in a madrassa (Islamic school) in the holy city of Najaf in what is now Iraq. Here Jamal was initiated into "the mysteries" by "followers of Sheik Ahmad Asai (1753-1826). He also may have had some family connections with the Babis, followers of Siyyid Ali Mohammed al-Bab," an imam keenly interested in politics.
"After years studying Shia theology at the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, he spent several years in India, the Caucasus and Central Asia before surfacing in Afghanistan as the senior advisor to the pro-Russian ruler."
(Editor's Comment: Strange that a supposedly devout Muslim would head for India instead of making the traditional haj or pilgrimage to Mecca. It appears that Jamal ad-Din was one of the few Illuminati to actually set foot in the "hidden city" of Shambhala.)
Jamal ad-Din's travels and movements in occult circles brought him into repeated contact with Elena Petrovna von Hahn Blavatsky during the 1850s and 1860s. He and Madame Blavatsky met for the last time in Paris in 1884.
Through these occult circles, Jamal became friendly with the directors of the Illuminati regional headquarters at Djoum (pronounced Joom) in southern Lebanon, Sheik Medjuel el-Mezrab and Lydia Pashkov. Between 1870 and 1875, the Illuminati apparently began a project to replicate the Italian Carbonari in all the countries of the Middle East. Jamal began "sowing the dragon's teeth" first in Istanbul and then in Cairo, where he became an advisor to the Grand Mufti.
(Editor's Comment: And what does this have to do with the USA today? Well, a nephew of a latter-day Grand Mufti of Cairo is none other than Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second in command of Al-Qaida.)
In Istanbul, Jamal and Omar Pasha organized a Masonic lodge, the Golden Square (from the compass-and-square symbol of Freemasonry--J.T.) which made deep inroads into the officer corps of the Ottoman Turkish army. But if the Golden Square was popular in Turkey, it caught on like wildfire in Iraq, particularly in "the Sunni triangle," the region around Tikrit.
During World War I, the Allies invaded Iraq, won a battle at Ctesiphon but got bogged down at Kut al-Amarna, where their army was surrounded by the Turks and the Arabs. After their surrender, over 100,000 Allied soldiers went to a P.O.W. camp in western Turkey, and the Golden Square was riding high in Baghdad.
Their success proved short-lived, however. The Ottoman Empire collapsed in October 1918, and the new League of Nations gave Iraq to UK as a "mandate." Feeling that they had been cheated of their independence, tribes like the al-Bufahadi and the al-Bunasiri revolted and began a guerrilla war that lasted until 1925.
During the 1920s, a new Golden Square grandmaster arrived in Baghdad. His name was Satia al-Husri and he began organizing new lodges. A former captain in the Ottoman Turkish army, Rashid Ali al-Qaylani, already a Golden Square member, abandoned his law practice to lead "the national revolution."
On October 3, 1932, the new kingdom of Iraq attained its independence and joined the League of Nations. King Faisal had barely seated himself on the throne when the Golden Square struck.
General Bakr Sidqi, like Rashid Ali, was a former Ottoman Turkish officer and longtime Golden Square member. In August 1933, he launched a pogrom against the Assyrian Christians, massacring thousands, over the protests of King Faisal.
On September 3, 1933, Faisal died and was succeeded by his son Ghazi, who, unknown to the old man, was a "member of the secret brotherhood," the Golden Square. Ghazi ruled uneasily for three years, and then, on October 29, 1936, Bakr Sidqi decided to stop being polite and "overthrew the government in the Arab world's first military coup."
But Bakr Sidqi was too friendly with the Ahali Socialist Party, so on August 11, 1937, he was assassinated by his "lodge brothers" of the Golden Square. "Six more (military) coups followed in quick succession," paving the way for the rise of Rashid Ali in 1940.
During October 1932, the Golden Square received help from an unexpected source--the German mystics of the Thule Society. The new German ambassador to Baghdad, Fritz Grobe, was a long-time Thule member.
(Editor's Note: A relative, Arthur Grobe-Wutischsky, was a frequent contributor to Germany's occult magazine, Ostara, and in 1915 wrote the book Der Weltkrieg 1914 in der Prophetie (Translated: The 1914 World War in Prophecy), possibly the first use of the term "world war.")
A year later, in October 1933, Grobe purchased an Iraqi daily newspaper, al-Alim al-Arabi. At first the paper had a bad case of the blahs in terms of circulation. Then it began running Arab translations of Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf (German for My Struggle) and the numbers picked up a little. But when the staff began running The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, the circulation numbers jumped into the millions. Everybody in Iraq was reading al-Alim al-Arabi, including unlettered shepherds like Hussein al-Majid, the future stepfather of Saddam Hussein.
This led to Iraq's "newspaper war" of the 1930s, with al-Alim al-Arabi and the Jewish-owned daily, al-Hassad, constantly sniping at each other. Meanwhile, the Golden Square was building its "national revolution" by creating ideological organizations like the Arab Cultural Society and Mutana Bin Hartha Society.
(Editor's Note: Bin Hartha was the commander of the first Muslim army in Iraq.)
One of Rashid Ali's most ardent disciples was an Iraqi officer named Khayrallah al-Tulfah. His articles and his book, Al-Madaris, al-Yahudiyya wa al-Iraniyya fi al-Iraq (To give the Arabic a free translation: Against Iran and the Jews--J.T.), became the "voice of the national revolution."
But the Golden Square's top organizer was Yunis es- Sabawi, who founded a mass movement for young Iraqis, Al- Futuwwa, which he modeled after Germany's Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth). By 1939, Al-Futuwwa had grown to 63,000 members, complete with uniforms, battalions, daily lectures and military training, all fanatically loyal to Rashid Ali.
On April 1, 1941, the Golden Square struck. Four colonels staged a coup in Baghdad and proclaimed Rashid Ali the new prime minister. He organized a "government of national defense" and opened negotiations for a military alliance with Hitler's Third Reich.
Partly because of the riots in Palestine, there had already been anti-Jewish violence in Iraq. In September 1936, three Jews were murdered on a Baghdad street. In October 1937, an Iraqi nationalist firebombed a Baghdad synagogue on Yom Kippur. But Rashid Ali's ascension led to new unrest. "Anti-Jewish demonstrations took place in Baghdad, Mosul, Kirkuk, Irbil and Amara, often ending in violence."
Unwilling to lose Iraq--and its oil--Winston S. Churchill ordered the British Army to oust Rashid Ali. British troops landed and took Basra on May 16, 1941. In marked contrast to the invasion of 1915, the British moved swiftly up the Trigris and took Baghdad on May 30, 1941. Rashid Ali and his aides fled to Iran.
Staying behind were Khayrallah al-Tulfah, who was promptly arrested, and Yunis es-Sabawi, who had not been idle during Rashid Ali's brief reign. Sabawi had selected the best fighters in Al-Futuwwa and organized them into a new guerrilla army, al-Ketaib a-Shabab (Arabic for Youth Battalions--J.T.) for attacks on "enemies of Iraq."
On June 1, 1941, the Jewish festival of Shavuot, "a group of Jews in festive attire" approached the Al-Har Bridge "to welcome Abdul Illah, the pro-British regent, on his way to the capital." They were attacked by a mob of Iraqi soldiers and civilians. "Leading the mobs were the Ketaib a-Shabab cadres, which had been trained by es- Sabawi."
The result was Al-Farhud, anti-Jewish riots that broke out all over Baghdad. "In all, 179 persons were killed in the riots, and 2,118 were injured. The number of people whose property was looted was put at 48,584. Unspeakable brutalities were committed in the pogrom: rape, murder and the crushing of body organs of babes in arms, women and men, young and old. Synagogues were profaned and Torah scrolls defiled."
The Allied occupation authorities cracked down hard. Ketaib a-Shabab members were arrested and exiled to Iran. The Golden Square went underground once more.
But not for long. Sporadic attacks on Jews continued throughout World War II. On December 17, 1942, al-Ketaib a-Shabab activists slit the throats of eight Jews in Sandur, in northern Iraq.
On July 24, 1943, ten Iraqis met at a hotel in Damascus, the capital of Syria, to found a new order, Al- Baath (The Risorgimento--J.T.) Nearly four years later, in April 1947, the first meeting of the Baath Party was held at Fallujah in Iraq.
The Golden Square had risen again. (See the books Republic of Fear by Samir al-Khalil, Pantheon Books, New York, N.Y., 1989, pages xi and xii; Out of the Ashes by Andrew Cockburn and Patrick Cockburn, Harper-Collins Publishers, New York, N.Y., 1999, pages 68 and 69; Saddam Hussein and the Crisis in the Gulf by Judith Miller and Leslie Mylroie, Random House, New York, N.Y., 1990, pages 24 through 29; The Occult Roots of Nazism by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, New York University Press, 1985, page 243; The Masters Revealed by K. Paul Johnson, State University of New York Press, 1994, pages 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 and 57; and The Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, Volume 1, Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, N.Y., 1990, pages 716 to 718.)
That's it for this week. Join us next time for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news from around the planet Earth, brought to you by "the paper that goes home--UFO Roundup." See you next week.
