How Wahhabis fan Iraq insurgency

But could he take his anti-US rhetoric to the front line, and conduct an attack? "Only God knows," says Mr. Jawad. "He's nervous. He has a temper."

That temper didn't show itself to the Americans who first began to interrogate the sheikh. "He realized he was caught red-handed, so he did not resist at all," says the intelligence officer, who conducted several hours of initial interrogations. "In his mind, he was convinced he was justified in his mission. He was very upset he failed in his mission.

"He accepted his fate, that he was a martyr now," says the officer. He was allowed to change clothes, before being taken away. "He said goodbye to his family. They kissed him."

The sheikh's explanation, as told by the intelligence officer, matches the type of anti-infidel mind-set that prevails among Wahhabis in much of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and across Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. It is also a match for the rejectionist thinking of Al Qaeda.

Tahma made the attack "because of Western ideals," says the intelligence officer. "He said: 'You are bringing Western culture and satellite images into our society. You brought nude magazines and distributed them.'

Coming to terms with such Wahhabi militancy has not been easy for other local religious leaders, who initiated fortnightly meetings with American units more than two months ago to help dispel mutual misperceptions.

"[The Americans] had the idea that all Sunnis are against them ... and there were many things [about them] we didn't have a clue about, so these meetings help us fight many rumors," says Sheikh Emad, who asked for the meetings.

"Most of these [Wahhabis] are not dangerous to the coalition," says Emad, adding that Tahma's attempted attack is a special case. "No one hates coalition forces because they took him.... He tried to fire on coalition forces, so people don't talk about that a lot.

"But if someone only talks against the coalition and are arrested, that causes a problem for us," Emad adds. "It is Iraqi nature, they like a sheikh who talks against the government and authority."

Indeed, Tahma was held for 45 days by Saddam Hussein's security apparatus 1-1/2 years ago, his followers say. But finding that balance is not easy for US forces tasked with keeping the peace - and keeping safe.

"One of the things that they do not understand, is that we want them to have free speech, but if they preach 'kill Americans,' they are going to end up in jail," says Capt. Edward Jackson, a chaplain of the 2-235 Air Infantry Regiment, who convenes the meetings in a local technical college.

But there are still resentments, fueled, these sheikhs say, by routine heavy-handed US behavior during raids, or inadvertently arresting innocent Iraqis, while true perpetrators get away.

"This is very difficult, because we can't understand the idea of occupation," says another sheikh, in pale-blue robes, who asked not to be named. "It makes it harder between the US and the people.... Sometimes it can create fighters among the citizens."

Ensuring that that happens may have been a message hidden in the letter that Tahma sent to the mosque, using a Red Cross facility plainly marked "Family and or private news only," dated June 25, just 11 days after his arrest.

Addressed to the bespectacled Mr. Aurabi, it called on Tahma's son to memorize the Koran, and to "obey his mother."

But the one-page letter - shown to the Monitor by Aurabi - also calls for upkeep of the mosque, "clearing the garden, and guarding the house."

US officers say they suspect that the garden reference was a hidden message, though the meaning remains unclear. Aurabi says he is against the anti-US attacks, but says Americans "receive shots and ambushes everywhere in this area. There are some people who are sabotaging everything."

Among those are fundamentalists like Tahma, the Americans say, who are proud of their attempts to hurt the US in Iraq.

"These guys, you can't change their minds - you have to kill them, and squash them like an ant," says a senior US officer familiar with Tahma's case. "He's a terrorist."

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