Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2006, Page 25
In my analysis of the Rulers of Iraq under Saddam, they most resembled a psychologically
abusive group in their scores on Mind Control and Exploitation. Their Total score does not
suggest a strongly cultic group.
Exhibit B1
Dole’s Ratings on GPA Subscales for Iraqi Rulers
Psy Abuse
Rating
Complia
nce
Exploitati
on
Mind
Control
Depend
ency
5 very
characteristic
4.1 4.3
4
characteristic
3.3
3 can‘t say 2.9
2 not
characteristic
1 not at all
characteristic
Iraqi Insurgents
Who are the terrorists who are fighting in Iraq against coalition forces and the newly formed
government? According to the media they may include Baath party secularists who formerly
ruled, Sunni Muslims opposed to Shiites, nationalists who resist a foreign occupier, thugs
and criminals, former soldiers in the disbanded army, and agents of Al Qaeda from many
Arab countries.
Although I am aware of little evidence that all the insurgents are united in their support of
Al Qaeda or of any other sect, ideology, or vision, many of them appear to share one
motivation. Fueled by a powerful mixture of humiliation, anger, and revenge, they seek to
drive out the occupiers and take over from the current regime. Their leader may have been
Abu Musab al-Zaqarwi, whom coalition forces killed in early 2006.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was listed as among Time magazine's 100 most influential people
Osama bin Laden was not included. Who is Zarqawi? Is he a terrorist? Master mind of the
Madrid bombing? A cult leader?
I turned to my computer, to Google. There were over 284,000 items about Zarqawi as of
April 14, 2005. I decided to concentrate on just two sources: The China Daily (Al-Zarqawi,
2005) and BBC News (―Profile‖ 2004).
Zarqawi was born in 1966 in Jordan of Palestinian Muslim parents. A high school drop out,
he was an obscure petty criminal who studied the application of chemicals and explosives in
an al Qaeda training camp. He is frequently linked to bombings, kidnappings, beheadings,
assassinations, and threats in Iraq. The United States had posted a 50 million dollar reward
for him.
On Feb. 5, 2003 Prime Minister of Spain Jose Maria Aznar briefed the Spanish Parliament
about an alleged chemical attack on Spain by Zarqawi. A year later, March 11, 2004,
Zarqawi may have been linked to a Moroccan cell behind the bombing in Madrid that killed
191 people.

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2006, Page 26
Although Zarqawi is often alleged to be associated with al Qaeda, even appointed the
director of the Al Qaeda organization in Iraq, some independent experts believe that in fact
he is not connected to al Qaeda, that his group is autonomous and a rival of Bin Laden.
Reports about him differed. He had or had not one leg. He had or had not been arrested. A
photograph circulated by BBC News in 2004 did not resemble a picture published in a United
Arab Emirates daily newspaper in the spring of 2005.
I found no evidence that firmly justifies or repudiates the designation "charismatic cult
leader."
GPA of Iraqi Insurgents
Please look at Exhibit B2. Compliance =3.4 Exploitation =4.1 Mind Control =4.1
Dependency =3.3 Total GPA =3.8 (Can not say items =46%).
Bearing in mind that my knowledge of the Insurgents is limited, mixed and contradictory,
that I was unable to rate almost half the GPA item scales, I scored these terrorists, like their
predecessors in Iraq, as most characteristic of a psychologically abusive group in respect to
Exploitation and Mind Control.
Exhibit B2
Dole’s Ratings on GPA Subscales for Iraqi Insurgents
Psy Abuse
Rating
Complia
nce
Exploita
tion
Mind
Control
Depend
ency
5 very
characteristic
4.1 4.1
4
characteristic
3.4 3.3
3 can‘t say
2 not
characteristic
1 not at all
characteristic
Al Qaeda
After the suicide bombings of the Twin Towers, available evidence (Dole, 2002) suggested
that al Qaeda was a killer cult and that Osama bin Laden was its charismatic leader.
Wahabism (On Islam and its relation to Wahabism see especially Armstrong, 2000 Carr,
2002 Coll, 2004 Esposito, 2002 and Gregorian, 2003) originated in the Middle East as a
fundamentalist Islamic sect. Islamic teachings were twisted by extremist imams to glorify
suicide and the killing of infidels as the path to paradise. Holy war, or jihad, demands the
destruction of Christians, Jews, Crusaders, and atheists. When the Russians set up a
communist regime in Afghanistan, a coalition of warlords and dedicated Muslims, covertly
supported by the United States, eventually forced them to withdraw.
Osama bin Laden, a wealthy, educated Saudi Arabian industrialist, who had provided
funding and leadership during the war, became a hero. In an insecure world torn by
economic and political conflicts, he had a special appeal for educated youth with limited
prospects. He returned to Afghanistan (See especially Coll, 2004 for his relations with the