Thursday, June 08, 2006

Idiot al-Zarqawi's Own Video Did Him In


U.S. and Iraqi officials announced early Thursday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, has been killed along with seven aides in an air strike. The attack occurred 30 miles northeast of Baghdad just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba. Al-Zarqawi, whose identity was confirmed through fingerprints, was the mastermind behind some of the most violent, brutal acts of terrorism. He himself is believed to have personally beheaded Americans Nicholas Berg and Eugene Armstrong, earning him the nickname "the slaughtering sheik."

But now he may be saddled in death with the nickname, "the idiot sheik," as his appearance in a recent videotaped message helped Jordanian officials recognize the mountainous region of Baqouba in the background, enabling them, the U.S. and Iraqis to pinpoint his location, according to a news report Wednesday on the Don Imus radio program.

Questions which now remain: what effect will al-Zarqawi's death have on the intensity of the insurgency; the progress of the new Iraqi government; Bush's poll numbers; and the pro-war politicians who seek re-election in November? Stay tuned.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This guy wasn't the mastermind of anything except Dick Cheney's imagination. He didn't even know how to operate a rifle. The truth is the shrub needed a lift and Abu must have outlived his usefulness.

Anonymous said...

tom AZ was important enough to send out videos - which makes him a target.

We'll see what becomes of this and if multiple people try to take his place or if it calms the insurgency. I for one hate the war, but are glad they got him.

Post American said...

The war of terror is like that movie weekend at Bernies!

Anonymous said...

undoubtably, a welcome distraction from the current war atrocities for Bushco. funny thing tho' fighter jets and 500 lb bombs.they usually dont leave good corpses. they got fingerprints and a mug shot? something smells..........

Anonymous said...

Isn't this the 4th or 5th time they killed this guy?
Identified by the desert in the backround? Jeesh, It looked like the state of Nevada to me, but what do I know.
Capturing Saddam spelled the end a few years back didn't it?? Or was that just one of his body doubles?

Anonymous said...

"funny thing tho' fighter jets and 500 lb bombs.they usually dont leave good corpses. they got fingerprints and a mug shot? something smells.........."

I think you smell your own breath. What do you know about 500 lbs and what they 'usually' leave? I know plenty of people who survived Russian carpet bombings of Sokhumi when Georgia left the Soviet Union. Was with them last week in Manhattan and they had 500 lb bombs dropped on their houses in the 90's while they were in the houses.

Next time you smell something, try brushing your teeth.

Anonymous said...

I read this article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0606160134jun16,1,1457848.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true


Caldwell said the bombing badly damaged al-Zarqawi's network, throwing its leadership into disarray and forcing them to abandon trusted safe houses. Since al-Zarqawi's death, U.S. and Iraqi forces have conducted 452 raids and killed 104 insurgents, he said.

But he added that al-Zarqawi's organization was expected to "reset" under new leadership. "They've been very resilient," he said..



How could these terrorist be on the run but yet were able to send out invitations to a big council meeting, then everyone traveled to meet at one location. They held a council meeting.......then they elected a new leader......then they communicated this out to the world.....all in two days? At the same time this is going on they said they had 400 and something raids killing terrorists and arresting them from the information they got from Zarqawi's house?

It sure doesn't sound like they were running and hiding in disarray to me. They announced their new leader in less than 2 days after Zarqawi was killed.

Anonymous said...

idiot - have you ever considered that they may have organized a chain-of-command? Do you think they might have made contingency plans for the predictable event of Zarqawi getting captured or killed?