The Mujahideen Army in Iraq appears to be a relatively small but well-organized Sunni insurgent group dedicated to fighting U.S. presence in the country. The group's generic name and frequent cooperation with other well-known organizations makes it difficult to tell if it is comprised primarily of members from multiple groups or if it is entirely independent. It is clear, however, that the Mujahideen Army has its own leadership and propaganda structure. <p><br />	The Mujahideen Army has claimed responsibility for several terrorist incidents. In November 2004, the group took five hostages  --  an American, a Nepali, a Filipino, and two Iraqis. The Iraqi and Nepali were released after a short period of time, while the group demanded multimillion dollar ransoms for the American and Filipino hostages. After extended negotiations, the Filipino hostage was released on unknown conditions. After being held for more than 10 months, the American hostage was freed during a raid by U.S. forces.  The group, along with two other terrorist organizations, also took hostage 10 employees of an American security contractor in December 2004, executing eight of them. <p><br />	In April 2005, a helicopter carrying American and Fijian security contractors was shot down by a missile, killing 11 people. Both the Mujahideen Army and the Islamic Army in Iraq released video footage showing the attack and taking credit for it. It is unclear whether the attack was a joint operation between the two groups or if one is making a false claim. It seems likely that the helicopter attack was a joint operation given the close ties between the two organizations and the fact that the Mujahideen Army has operated with other groups on attacks in the past. <p><br />	The capture of Mujahideen Army lieutenant and propaganda master Ahmad Ni'mah Khudayyir Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Shihab) in October of 2005 offered U.S. officials a glimpse into the workings of the Mujahideen Army. Abbas admitted to producing recruitment and training videos for distribution to the Mujahideen Army and other insurgent groups within Iraq. He also said the group has raised money through fraud, posing as a children's charity to scam money from Iraqi citizens. <p><br />	While the Mujahideen Army is dedicated to jihad, they are not entirely opposed to participation in politics, so long as it does not violate Islamic principles. In November 2005, the Mujahideen Army was one of several insurgent groups to reach out to Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, encouraging him to bring resistance groups into the political discussion. It does not appear as if discussions between Talabani and the Mujahideen Army have occurred. Some believe that while the group is religiously motivated, they are primarily former Saddam Hussein military and intelligence officers and Baath party members dedicated to ending U.S. influence in Iraq. This more nationalistic focus has limited their cooperation with more vehement jihadist and sectarian groups, like al-Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Qaeda has urged the Mujahideen Army to join the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella organization designed to unite jihadist groups against the U.S. in Iraq, but the Mujahideen Army has so far declined. This indicates that the Mujahideen Army sees al-Qaeda as a foreign force in Iraq and likely has slightly different goals. <p><br />	The Mujahideen Army has also attempted to affect American sentiment through an open letter to the American public, released in March 2005 on the internet. The letter urged the American people to take matters into their own hands and overthrow the "criminals" that currently ran their government. The letter showed a familiarity with American history and respect for the American people, placing blame entirely on the Bush administration, which it believes rigged the 2004 election.<br />