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Gold9472
06-08-2006, 08:46 AM
Al-Qaida in Iraq's al-Zarqawi 'terminated'
Terror group confirms death, vows to continue ‘holy war’

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13195017/

(Gold9472: Let's not forget the report that his family had a funeral for him in Jordan a few years ago, on top of the fact that the Pentagon had a propaganda campaign to make him appear more "dangerous" than he really was. You can read about it here (http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4770).)

6/8/2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq who led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and kidnappings, has been killed in an air strike, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday, adding that his identity was confirmed by fingerprints and a look at his face.

It was a major victory in the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the broader war on terror. In a statement President Bush said U.S. forces "delivered justice."

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides Wednesday evening in a remote area 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba, al-Maliki said.

Al-Qaida in Iraq confirmed al-Zarqawi's death and vowed to continue its "holy war," according to a statement posted on a Web site.

"We want to give you the joyous news of the martyrdom of the mujahed sheik Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said the statement, signed by "Abu Abdel-Rahman al-Iraqi," identified as the deputy "emir" or leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.

"The death of our leaders is life for us. It will only increase our persistence in continuing holy war so that the word of God will be supreme."

Loud applause broke out among the reporters and soldiers as al-Maliki, flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told a news conference that “al-Zarqawi was eliminated.”

But any hopes the Jordanian-born terror leader’s death would help stem the violence in Iraq were dimmed hours later when a car bomb exploded in a Baghdad market, killing 19 and wounding 65.

The announcement about al-Zarqawi’s death came six days after he issued an audiotape on the Internet, railing against Shiites in Iraq and saying militias were raping women and killing Sunnis and the community must fight back.

Help from Jordan
Al-Maliki said the airstrike was the result of intelligence reports provided to Iraqi security forces by residents in the area, and U.S. forces acted on the information. Casey said the hunt for al-Zarqawi began two weeks ago, and his body was identified by fingerprints and facial recognition.

A Jordanian official said Jordan also provided the U.S. military with information that helped in tracking al-Zarqawi down. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was addressing intelligence issues, would not elaborate, but Jordan is known to have intelligence agents operating in Iraq to hunt down Islamic militants.

Some of the information came from Jordan’s sources inside Iraq and led the U.S. military to the area of Baqouba, the official said.

Baqouba has in recent weeks seen a spike in sectarian violence, including the discovery of 17 severed heads in fruit boxes. It was also near the site of a sectarian atrocity last week in which masked gunmen killed 21 Shiites, including a dozen students, after separating out four Sunni Arabs.

“Those who disrupt the course of life, like al-Zarqawi, will have a tragic end,” al-Maliki said. He also warned those who would follow the militant’s lead that “whenever there is a new al-Zarqawi, we will kill him.”

“This is a message for all those who embrace violence, killing and destruction to stop and to (retreat) before it’s too late,” he said. “It is an open battle with all those who incite sectarianism.”

'Huge success for Iraq'
In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said al-Zarqawi’s death “was very good news because a blow against al-Qaida in Iraq was a blow against al-Qaida everywhere.” Khalilzad added that “the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a huge success for Iraq and the international war on terror.” He also gave a thumbs up and said it was a good day for America.

Since his emergence following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Al-Zarqawi had become Iraq’s most wanted militant — as notorious as Osama bin Laden, to whom he swore allegiance in 2004. The United States put a $25 million bounty on al-Zarqawi, the same as bin Laden.

His fighters led a wave of kidnappings of foreigners, killing at least a dozen, including Arab diplomats and three Americans. Al-Zarqawi himself is believed to have wielded the knife in the beheadings of two of the Americans — Nicholas Berg and Eugene Armstrong — and earned himself the title of “the slaughtering sheik” among his supporters.

He has also been a master Internet propagandist, spreading the call for Islamic extremists to join the “jihad” or holy war in Iraq. His group posted gruesome images of beheadings, speeches by al-Zarqawi and recruitment videos depicting the planning and execution of its most daring attacks.

Mixed reaction in Iraq
While leaders said the killing was a major victory, Iraqi citizens had mixed reactions.

Thamir Abdulhussein, a college student in Baghdad, said he hopes the killing of al-Zarqawi will promote reconciliation between Iraq’s fractured ethnic and sectarian groups.

“If it’s true al-Zarqawi was killed, that will be a big happiness for all the Iraqis,” he said. “He was behind all the killings of Sunni and Shiites. Iraqis should now move toward reconciliation. They should stop the violence.”

Amir Muhammed Ali, a 45-year-old stock broker in Baghdad, was skeptical that al-Zarqawi’s death would end the unrelenting violence in the country, saying he was a foreigner but the Iraqi resistance to U.S.-led forces would likely continue.

“He didn’t represent the resistance, someone will replace him and the operations will go on,” he said.

Missed chances
In the past year, he moved his campaign beyond Iraq’s borders, claiming to have carried out a Nov. 9, 2005, triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman, Jordan, that killed 60 people, as well as other attacks in Jordan and even a rocket attack from Lebanon into northern Israel.

U.S. forces and their allies came close to capturing al-Zarqawi several times since his campaign began in mid-2003.

His closest brush may have come in late 2004. Deputy Interior Ministry Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal said Iraqi security forces caught al-Zarqawi near the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah but then released him because they didn’t realize who he was.

In May 2005, Web statements by his group said al-Zarqawi had been wounded in fighting with Americans and was being treated in a hospital abroad — raising speculation over a successor among his lieutenants. But days later, a statement said al-Zarqawi was fine and had returned to Iraq. There was never any independent confirmation of the reports of his wounding.

U.S. forces believe they just missed capturing al-Zarqawi in a Feb. 20, 2005 raid in which troops closed in on his vehicle west of Baghdad near the Euphrates River. His driver and another associate were captured and al-Zarqawi’s computer was seized along with pistols and ammunition.

U.S. troops twice launched massive invasions of Fallujah, the stronghold used by al-Qaida in Iraq fighters and other insurgents west of Baghdad. An April 2004 offensive left the city still in insurgent hands, but the October 2004 assault wrested it from them. However, al-Zarqawi — if he was in the city — escaped.

Partridge
06-08-2006, 12:34 PM
Excellent. So who will be the new bogey man?

beltman713
06-08-2006, 02:50 PM
The president of Iran.

Gold9472
06-08-2006, 02:50 PM
Chavez.

PhilosophyGenius
06-08-2006, 03:01 PM
Here's my theory: The reason he was 'killed' (depending on how you look at it) now of all times because it's to show that the war in Iraq is 'winding down' so they can proceed onto Iran.

casseia
06-08-2006, 04:30 PM
I put the significance of his death in the context of the "Canadian terrorists" -- they were "home-grown." Along with killing off a major external boogeyman, "they" seem to making the suggestion that we should shift our fear, or some portion of it, from an external, foreign threat, to people living down the street (probably Muslims) who have just spontaneously become terrorists. The thing that's really ominous about this, in addition to the demonization of Muslims, is the suggestion I heard wrapped into one news account that we must all be extra-vigilant and report anything weird and potentially "terroristic" that our neighbors do. (Like suggest Osama played a peripheral role in 911, fr'instance.) Shades of East Germany.

thumper
06-08-2006, 05:00 PM
wasn't he killed a few times already?

Partridge
06-08-2006, 05:53 PM
I actually meant who will be the new bogey-man in Iraq.

The reason for this (real or apparent) killing seems to me to be quite obvious - who cares if US occupiers are slaughtering civilians in Haditha, Ishaqi or anywhere else anymore - WE GOT THE EVIL DOER! The strategy is working dammit! The back of the insurgency has been broken (for the fifty millionth time).

Of course, the resistance will carry on regardless. And the US will need a new evil mastermind for people to boo and hiss at when his face is shown on the news.

I just wonder who it will be. Especially as the US have (ahem) killed about 25 of Zarqawi's right-hand men. Maybe it'll be one of his left-hand men!

PhilosophyGenius
06-08-2006, 05:56 PM
I actually meant who will be the new bogey-man in Iraq.



Ya know what, US intel already named who they think would be his successor. An Egyptian named al-Masri.

Partridge
06-08-2006, 07:22 PM
It's not Abu Hafs al-Masri is it by any chance? Cos he's dead too! (Died in a US air-strike during the Afgan invasion). There is a an Abu Hafs al-Masri brigade supposedly active in the insurgency, but they are just named after him.

The only other Egyptian called al-Masri that I can think of is Abu Hamza al-Masri, the london based cleric with the hook who is currently (I believe) doing time at Her Majesty's Pleasure for 'incitement to racial hatred' and 'incitement to murder'. (Personally I reckon he's an MI6 assest who's been shafted).

Partridge
06-08-2006, 07:29 PM
Just came across this...

Who will succeed al-Zarqawi unclear
AP (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Al_Zarqawis_Successor.html)

Now that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead, there seems little certainty who will succeed the brutal killer who was the most wanted terrorist in Iraq. An American general thinks it will be Egyptian-born, Afghanistan-trained Abu al-Masri, whose name is an obvious alias, meaning "father of the Egyptian."

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said Thursday that al-Masri was the "most logical" successor but offered no details on why.

Caldwell said al-Masri is thought to have come to Iraq in 2002 after training in Afghanistan with the mission of creating an al-Qaida cell in Baghdad. Al-Masri is believed to be an expert at constructing roadside bombs, the leading cause of U.S. military casualties in Iraq.

But there are other possibilities.

For example, U.S. and Iraqi officials announced that al-Zarqawi's spiritual adviser, Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi, was among others killed with the Jordanian-born terror mastermind when U.S. warplanes bombed a house northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday evening.

But an Internet statement that al-Qaida posted Thursday confirming al-Zarqawi's death was signed by a man with the same name, casting doubt on the supposition that al-Iraqi had been killed.

"My perception is that if they released a statement in the name of Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi, then he is still around. And, as the deputy head of al-Qaida in Iraq, he presumably is the new leader," said Evan Kohlmann, a New York-based terror consultant and founder of globalterroralert.com.But, he added, "It is possible that two guys have the same name." He said an al-Qaida member known as Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi previously was identified as an al-Qaida military leader, not a spiritual leader.

Caldwell said the U.S. military had discussed the succession question with the Iraqi government even before al-Zarqawi was killed.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday that it made no real difference. "Whenever there is a new Zarqawi, we will kill him," al-Maliki told reporters.

It may not be that easy. It took the U.S. and Iraqi military three years to get al-Zarqawi and there is little likelihood al-Qaida in Iraq will crumble now that its leader is gone.

"The death of our leaders is life for us," said the Web statement from al-Qaida in Iraq, which is notorious for Iraq's bloodiest terror bombings and beheadings. "It will only increase our persistence in continuing the holy war so that the word of God will be supreme."

Caldwell agreed the group might respond to al-Zarqawi's death by staging some big attacks to assert its "viability" as a durable organization.

Some experts on Islamic extremism said they suspected there might not be a ready successor for al-Zarqawi, whose organization has been reeling from the death or capture of dozens of middle and top operatives in recent months.

But while al-Zarqawi's death may be a blow to the group's morale, it will not stop the group from producing a successor, said Italian researcher Andrea Nativi in Rome.

"No one is deluded in thinking that in the long-term he will not be replaced. Even if they kill Osama bin Laden, it doesn't mean al-Qaida will stop existing," Nativi said.

Rime Allaf of London's Chatham House, an international affairs think tank, said a successor was anyone's guess. But, she said, it would happen sooner rather than later.

"Recent statements had suggested some al-Qaida figures were unhappy with the brutality of al-Zarqawi's attacks and his targeting of civilians," she said. "It could be that his replacement, or replacements, will adopt a very different style."

Magnus Ranstorp, research director at the Swedish National Defense College in Stockholm, had a similar view.

"The big question is not who succeeds al-Zarqawi, but whether they will continue to encourage Sunni against Shia violence, or whether they change tactics," Ranstorp said.

"Al-Zarqawi had lost credibility within the insurgency before his death because of the tactics he was using and because he inflated his own importance."

Partridge
06-08-2006, 07:30 PM
I love that last line! It's not like the Western media inflated his role or anything. Not at all!

Gold9472
06-08-2006, 08:03 PM
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

June 8, 2006 -- Jordanian Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi, born Fadel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, was killed in a U.S. air strike last night at 6:15 pm (Iraq time) in an Al Qaeda safe house north of Baghdad. Killed with Zarqawi were his "spiritual adviser" Sheikh Abdul Rahman, and an unidentified woman and child. Eight to ten other Zarqawi lieutenants were also reported to have been killed in the attack. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad this morning stated at a news conference that Zarqawi was identified based on fingerprints, facial recognition, known scars, and tattoos. The attack on Zarqawi was apparently carried out in close coordination with Jordan's General Intelligence Department, which had received a tip on Zarqawi's location from its agents operating inside Iraq.

The U.S. military spokesman's revelation that Zarqawi's body was partly identified from tattoos is noteworthy. Abu Abdel-Rahman al-Iraqi, described as the Deputy Emir of Al Qaeda in Iraq on an Al Qaeda web site, stated that Zarqawi was a martyred mujahed sheikh. Zarqawi was a lieutenant of strict Wahhabi Islam adherent Osama Bin Laden. However, why Zarqawi would have had tattoos is baffling. Islam specifically forbids tattoos. According to Islamic texts, the Prophet Mohammed forbade tattooing:

Narrated Abu Huraira: "Allah's Apostle said, 'The evil eye is a fact,' and he forbade tattooing. (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Dress, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 827)"

Narrated 'Aun bin Abu Juhaifa: "My father bought a slave who practiced the profession of cupping. (My father broke the slave's instruments of cupping). I asked my father why he had done so. He replied, 'The Prophet forbade the acceptance of the price of a dog or blood, and also forbade the profession of tattooing, getting tattooed and receiving or giving Riba, (usury), and cursed the picture-makers.' (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Sales and Trade, Volume 3, Book 34, Number 299)"

Narrated 'Abdullah: "Allah has cursed those women who practice tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those who remove their face hairs, and those who create a space between their teeth artificially to look beautiful [hmmm.., ed. note], and such women as change the features created by Allah. Why then should I not curse those whom the Prophet has cursed? And that is in Allah's Book. i.e. His Saying: 'And what the Apostle gives you take it and what he forbids you abstain (from it).' (59.7) (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Dress, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 815)"

The Pentagon has been caught trying to exaggerate the importance of Zarqawi in propaganda disseminated in Iraq and the United States. Now, a Pentagon spokesman is claiming that a strict adherent of Islam and a jihadist was identified through examination of his tattoos. It has previously been reported that Zarqawi once removed a single tattoo from his forearm with hydrochloric acid. Other reports said that Zarqawi was once nicknamed the "green man" because he had as many tattoos as a carnival worker. The U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad clearly stated the Zarqawi body found after the U.S. air strike had been identified from "tattoos." The tattoos are as baffling as the gold ring worn by someone said to be Zarqawi in the video of the gruesome beheading of Nick Berg. The Quran forbids Muslim men from wearing jewelry, specifically gold and silver. Also, the gold ring was on "Zarqawi's" left hand, the unclean hand used for going to the toilet. Also, the U.S. military made no mention of Zarqawi's prosthesis device. It has been reported that Zarqawi lost his leg during a battle in Afghanistan.

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/zarqawialso.jpg
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/zarqawibefore.jpg
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/zarqawibody.jpg
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/zarqawiafter.jpg

Which one of these Zarqawis had tattoos and a prosthesis? Bottom is Zarqawi's body after two 500 lb. bombs were dropped on the safe house-- photo was neatly matted and framed with gold leaf (obviously done by a 24-hour Baghdad version of Kinko's).

Cloak & Swagger
06-08-2006, 09:53 PM
This comes 11 days before the government goes "underground".
June 19th (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/02/AR2006060201410_pf.html)...tick tock tick tock tick tock...
I expect to see a few more significant developments in the coming days.

PhilosophyGenius
06-08-2006, 11:10 PM
I was just thinking the same thing, which is, how the hell is Zarqawi still in one piece after 2 bunker busters. Oh well, I bet in a day or two Alex Jones would have had the whole thing debunked by then? haha