Posted June 8, 200618 yr CNN link Airstrike kills terror leader al-Zarqawi in Iraq U.S. hails attack on 'godfather of sectarian killing' Thursday, June 8, 2006; Posted: 6:12 a.m. EDT (10:12 GMT) BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, was killed in a coalition airstrike near Baquba, jubilant U.S. and Iraqi authorities announced Thursday. The 3-year-old insurgency has "lost its leader," Gen. George Casey, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, told reporters. Details are still emerging of the operation against the self-proclaimed leader of al Qaeda in Iraq who pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden. (Watch how al-Zarqawi's body was identified -- 2:28) But the killing of al-Zarqawi, who had a $25 million bounty on his head, is a major coup for the embattled coalition forces. "Today is a good day," U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad told a news conference soon after cheers and applause broke out when Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced: "Zarqawi has been killed." Khalilzad called al-Zarqawi "the godfather of sectarian killing and terror in Iraq" -- and said the death "marks a great success for Iraq and the global war on terror." "His organization has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in Iraq and abroad." The 39-year-old Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi was accused of terrorist links before the Iraq war and soon led the insurgency after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. (Watch how al-Zarqawi murdered his way to the most-wanted list -- 2:50) Multiple attempts have been made to capture or kill him and he was held briefly by Iraqi security forces in 2004 but was released because no one knew who he was. In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called al-Zarqawi's death "a very important moment in Iraq. A blow for al Qaeda in Iraq is a blow for al Qaeda everywhere."
June 8, 200618 yr Well some actualy good news I guess. Bush is gonna talk in a few. Probably going to try to milk this for like 4 months Someone is probably just going to take his place so the impact really isn't that great, but it's good none the less.
June 8, 200618 yr hopefully this is the start of good news in iraq because no matter where you stand politically i think we can all agree if we fail in iraq , the US will be severely damaged
June 8, 200618 yr Great News!!! :thumbup OBL you can run but you can't hide!!! You're next :hanged :patriot
June 8, 200618 yr Somehow I don't think Osama will be seeing justice for awhile, if at all. Yes, this is a victory, but it's disturbing that it took 3 years to bring this guy to justice. It took far less time to apprehend Saddam, and even less to kill his sons. But you would think in a country we're supposed to have control, we can't find one high-profille terrorist for three years. As far as the violence in Iraq, this likely won't be enough to hurt it. No one is really sure how much power Zarqawi had in Iraq. It's probably less than Muqtada Al-Sadr, the radical Shi'ite cleric.
June 8, 200618 yr hopefully this is the start of good news in iraq because no matter where you stand politically i think we can all agree if we fail in iraq , the US will be severely damaged Failure in Iraq is not an option PERIOD.
June 8, 200618 yr Somehow I don't think Osama will be seeing justice for awhile, if at all. Yes, this is a victory, but it's disturbing that it took 3 years to bring this guy to justice. It took far less time to apprehend Saddam, and even less to kill his sons. But you would think in a country we're supposed to have control, we can't find one high-profille terrorist for three years. As far as the violence in Iraq, this likely won't be enough to hurt it. No one is really sure how much power Zarqawi had in Iraq. It's probably less than Muqtada Al-Sadr, the radical Shi'ite cleric. So when they do catch OBL you'll be saying the same thing, you libs always cry and complain even when the events benefit everyone, there's always a "yeah, but..."
June 8, 200618 yr Somehow I don't think Osama will be seeing justice for awhile, if at all. Yes, this is a victory, but it's disturbing that it took 3 years to bring this guy to justice. It took far less time to apprehend Saddam, and even less to kill his sons. But you would think in a country we're supposed to have control, we can't find one high-profille terrorist for three years. As far as the violence in Iraq, this likely won't be enough to hurt it. No one is really sure how much power Zarqawi had in Iraq. It's probably less than Muqtada Al-Sadr, the radical Shi'ite cleric. So when they do catch OBL you'll be saying the same thing, you libs always cry and complain even when the events benefit everyone, there's always a "yeah, but..." Futuregm has a point my friend. This had nothing to do with a left-right thing but you opened that door.
June 8, 200618 yr If he is somehow caught, then I will celebrate that, as we will have finally brought the man responsible for 9/11 to justice. However, I do not expect him to be caught anytime soon. It's starting to seem more likely that he will die of natural causes before he's captured or killed by U.S. troops/agents.
June 8, 200618 yr If he is somehow caught, then I will celebrate that, as we will have finally brought the man responsible for 9/11 to justice. However, I do not expect him to be caught anytime soon. It's starting to seem more likely that he will die of natural causes before he's captured or killed by U.S. troops/agents. And you'd know that, how?
June 8, 200618 yr If he is somehow caught, then I will celebrate that, as we will have finally brought the man responsible for 9/11 to justice. However, I do not expect him to be caught anytime soon. It's starting to seem more likely that he will die of natural causes before he's captured or killed by U.S. troops/agents. And you'd know that, how? The few videos of him over the last few years have made it clear that his health has suffered from having to run and hide everywhere. He almost certainly does not have the access to quality doctors that he had prior to 9/11. All leads to Bin Laden have dried up as well, and there has not been any new information on his potential whereabouts, besides the likelyhood that he is somewhere in Pakistan. Shifting our resources to Iraq right in the middle of the Afghanistan conflict almost certainly cost us the capture of at least Bin Laden. We had him cornered right before the CIA essentially let him go by allowing Afghani tribal forces to guard the border with Pakistan. We knew that many of them supported Bin Laden, and yet we let them handle the job, instead of U.S. soldiers. Read the book "Jawbreaker" if you want to see how the government screwed up capturing Bin Laden while he was cornered in the Tora Bora mountains.
June 8, 200618 yr Somehow I don't think Osama will be seeing justice for awhile, if at all. Yes, this is a victory, but it's disturbing that it took 3 years to bring this guy to justice. It took far less time to apprehend Saddam, and even less to kill his sons. But you would think in a country we're supposed to have control, we can't find one high-profille terrorist for three years. As far as the violence in Iraq, this likely won't be enough to hurt it. No one is really sure how much power Zarqawi had in Iraq. It's probably less than Muqtada Al-Sadr, the radical Shi'ite cleric. Oh my lord....the typical left wing view. Can't you ever be excited for once and admit that the war on terror is a marathon, not a sprint. But we are winning....and most left wingers will find that out (maybe after we get Bin Ladin).
June 8, 200618 yr If he is somehow caught, then I will celebrate that, as we will have finally brought the man responsible for 9/11 to justice. However, I do not expect him to be caught anytime soon. It's starting to seem more likely that he will die of natural causes before he's captured or killed by U.S. troops/agents. Will you stop??? Natural causes? Who cares- Bin Ladin is on the run (he has to change locations daily!) Who wants to live like that? Give some props for a good job for once. If Kerry was Pres then we would have given up in Iraq, and there would be more terrorists in the world today. If he is somehow caught, then I will celebrate that, as we will have finally brought the man responsible for 9/11 to justice. However, I do not expect him to be caught anytime soon. It's starting to seem more likely that he will die of natural causes before he's captured or killed by U.S. troops/agents. And you'd know that, how? The few videos of him over the last few years have made it clear that his health has suffered from having to run and hide everywhere. He almost certainly does not have the access to quality doctors that he had prior to 9/11. All leads to Bin Laden have dried up as well, and there has not been any new information on his potential whereabouts, besides the likelyhood that he is somewhere in Pakistan. Shifting our resources to Iraq right in the middle of the Afghanistan conflict almost certainly cost us the capture of at least Bin Laden. We had him cornered right before the CIA essentially let him go by allowing Afghani tribal forces to guard the border with Pakistan. We knew that many of them supported Bin Laden, and yet we let them handle the job, instead of U.S. soldiers. Read the book "Jawbreaker" if you want to see how the government screwed up capturing Bin Laden while he was cornered in the Tora Bora mountains. How bout Clinton had Bin Ladin 4 times and let him go? That is where the Government screwed up. You act like you know everything about where Bin Ladin is and when. Look no one knows where he is and most people think he's been hiding in Pakistan since 9/11, We can't go in there cause they have nukes....so we are just out of luck.
June 8, 200618 yr Look, I agree that the Clinton administration should have done something about Bin Laden. However, his biggest operations (minus the embassy bombings in 1998) happened under GWB's watch. Those were the USS Cole bombing and 9/11. I don't believe that Clinton could see into the future, although I guess I could be wrong. You have to realize that this is not as big of a victory as it seems. Al-Zarqawi was one man with little real power in Iraq. He just happened to get the most press.
June 8, 200618 yr If he is somehow caught, then I will celebrate that, as we will have finally brought the man responsible for 9/11 to justice. However, I do not expect him to be caught anytime soon. It's starting to seem more likely that he will die of natural causes before he's captured or killed by U.S. troops/agents. And you'd know that, how? The few videos of him over the last few years have made it clear that his health has suffered from having to run and hide everywhere. He almost certainly does not have the access to quality doctors that he had prior to 9/11. All leads to Bin Laden have dried up as well, and there has not been any new information on his potential whereabouts, besides the likelyhood that he is somewhere in Pakistan. Shifting our resources to Iraq right in the middle of the Afghanistan conflict almost certainly cost us the capture of at least Bin Laden. We had him cornered right before the CIA essentially let him go by allowing Afghani tribal forces to guard the border with Pakistan. We knew that many of them supported Bin Laden, and yet we let them handle the job, instead of U.S. soldiers. Read the book "Jawbreaker" if you want to see how the government screwed up capturing Bin Laden while he was cornered in the Tora Bora mountains. Flushing Bin Laden out of the mountains was and still is for the most part a CIA/Socom operation. Also, not many resources were shifted from Afghanistan to Iraq. Maybe some support elements, but there was enough regular army infantry + national guard infantry to handle both duties, as mostly Afghanistan was policing anyway. Were a few divisions split? Sure. A regiment of the 82nd was in Iraq while the rest was in Afghanistan, but the Iraqi regiment was never with the larger 82nd body in Afghanistan at the same time to begin with. Airborne regiments from Italy and Alaska (173rd and 172nd) also went to each country, the 173rd to Iraq with the 172nd to Alaska. The only real major split in forces you saw was the Marine Corps, but they only stay active in an area for a few months before rotating, meaning there were always fresh units to be sent in. The whole operation in Iraq was also augmented by British military forces. I dont know if you followed the inital Iraqi Freedom invasion, back in March of 2003, but it was a beautiful attack plan. Massive military taking it to them from every direction. Only real problem was the attack+defeat was a tad too swift, and let a few pockets of insurgency grow. But trust me, it was brutal. Not many countries on earth would of fought off that invasion, a few would of lasted to fight around longer, but in the end the result would of been the same... but as I said, the invasion itself was a thing of beauty. My company(and batallion, main effort for the SW advance) made it from the Kuwati border to Baghdad in a little over a week and a half. 3ID plowed the road, taking care of armor and lighter troop transports, we did the rest. But, in regards to Al-Zarqawi:
June 8, 200618 yr There was nothing wrong with the military phase of the Iraq War. That worked pretty well. However, the people in the Pentagon (mostly Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz), were EXTREMELY opposed to the idea of nation-building. They believed that the Kosovo operation was a complete waste of time. The Pentagon and the government at large had a false belief that there would be little resistance in the country, and that it would not take a major effort to fix the country. They completely failed to anticipate all of the problems involved in the postwar operation. As someone mentioned before, our soldiers are not policemen. They are not trained properly to take on this job. Their job is to fight a clear enemy with overwhelming force, and then go home.
June 8, 200618 yr Look, I agree that the Clinton administration should have done something about Bin Laden. However, his biggest operations (minus the embassy bombings in 1998) happened under GWB's watch. Those were the USS Cole bombing and 9/11. I don't believe that Clinton could see into the future, although I guess I could be wrong. You have to realize that this is not as big of a victory as it seems. Al-Zarqawi was one man with little real power in Iraq. He just happened to get the most press. The US is offering a $25m bounty on Zarqawi's head - the same sum they are offering for Bin Laden himself. I'd say that makes him pretty important. Again, the war on terror is much larger than just al-Qaeda Jordan tried him in absentia and sentenced him to death for allegedly plotting attacks on American and Israeli tourists. Western intelligence indicated Zarqawi had sought refuge in Europe. German security forces later uncovered a militant cell which claimed Zarqawi was its leader. Every country wanted this guy. The self-proclaimed leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Again, he's pretty important. Zarqawi, a long time ally of Osama bin Laden, was a high-ranking member of bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, and since October 2004 had referred to his own organization Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, or Monotheism and Holy War Group, an insurgent network operating in Iraq, as "Al-Qaeda in Iraq". On October 21, 2004, Zarqawi officially announced his allegiance to Al Qaeda; on December 27, 2004, Al Jazeera broadcast an audiotape of bin Laden calling Zarqawi "the prince of al Qaeda in Iraq" and asked "all our organization brethren to listen to him and obey him in his good deeds." Zarqawi was the most wanted man in Jordan and Iraq,having participated in or masterminded a number of violent actions against United States and Iraqi targets Other incidents -U.S. officials believe that Zarqawi trained others in the use of poison (ricin?[1]) for possible attacks in Europe, ran a terrorist haven in northern Iraq, and organized the bombing of a Baghdad hotel. -According to suspects arrested in Turkey, Zarqawi sent them to Istanbul to organize an attack on a NATO summit there on June 28 or June 29 of 2004. -United States officials blame Zarqawi for over 700 killings in Iraq during the invasion, mostly from bombings. -According to the United States State Department, Zarqawi is responsible for the Canal Hotel bombing of the United Nations Headquarters in Iraq on August 19, 2003. This attack killed twenty-two people, including the United Nations secretary general's special Iraqi envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. [2] -Zarqawi is believed by the former Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq to have written an intercepted letter to the al-Qaeda leadership in February 2004 on the progress of the "Iraqi jihad." Many observers do not believe that Zarqawi wrote the letter. -On July 11, 2004, a group reportedly led by Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for a July 8 mortar attack in Samarra, Iraq. Five American soldiers and one Iraqi soldier were killed. -Believed to have coordinated the infamous second battle of "Al Fallujah" (Operation Phantom Fury/Operation Al Fajr) in November 2004, fought in the battle himself, then slipped away from coalition forces. -Jordan accuses Zarqawi of plotting to release a chemical cloud in Amman. Men were arrested in Amman who purportedly were planning to release the chemical attack. He was convicted in absentia on March 20, 2005, and sentenced to fifteen years in prison in addition to his two death sentences for earlier crimes in Jordan. -Zarqawi is believed to have masterminded the 2005 bombings in Amman that killed about seventy people in three hotels. [3] -Zarqawi released a video tape on April 25, 2006 via the Internet where he praised the terrorists in Iraq. -On April 25, 2006 a video appearing to show Zarqawi surfaced [16]. In the tape, the man says holy warriors are fighting on despite a three-year "crusade". US experts told the BBC they believed the recording was genuine. One part of the recording shows a man - who bears a strong resemblance to previous pictures of Zarqawi - sitting on the floor and addressing a group of masked men with an automatic rifle at his side. "Your mujahideen sons were able to confront the most ferocious of crusader campaigns on a Muslim state," the man says. Addressing US President George W Bush, he says: "Why don't you tell people that your soldiers are committing suicide, taking drugs and hallucination pills to help them sleep?" "By God," he says, "your dreams will be defeated by our blood and by our bodies. What is coming is even worse." The speaker in the video also reproaches the US for its "arrogance and insolence" in rejecting a truce offered by "our prince and leader", Osama Bin Laden. -The United States Army aired an unedited tape of Zarqawi in May 2006 highlighting the fact that he was unable to fire an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. Zarqawi was also shown to be wearing tennis shoes in the video. The aim of the video was to remove the myth surrounding Zarqawi and to question his prowess as a military leader. AGAIN QUIT DOWN PLAYING THIS! WE GOT A MAJOR PLAYER IN THE WAR ON TERROR!
June 8, 200618 yr If he is somehow caught, then I will celebrate that, as we will have finally brought the man responsible for 9/11 to justice. However, I do not expect him to be caught anytime soon. It's starting to seem more likely that he will die of natural causes before he's captured or killed by U.S. troops/agents. Will you stop??? Natural causes? Who cares- Bin Ladin is on the run (he has to change locations daily!) Who wants to live like that? Give some props for a good job for once. If Kerry was Pres then we would have given up in Iraq, and there would be more terrorists in the world today. If he is somehow caught, then I will celebrate that, as we will have finally brought the man responsible for 9/11 to justice. However, I do not expect him to be caught anytime soon. It's starting to seem more likely that he will die of natural causes before he's captured or killed by U.S. troops/agents. And you'd know that, how? The few videos of him over the last few years have made it clear that his health has suffered from having to run and hide everywhere. He almost certainly does not have the access to quality doctors that he had prior to 9/11. All leads to Bin Laden have dried up as well, and there has not been any new information on his potential whereabouts, besides the likelyhood that he is somewhere in Pakistan. Shifting our resources to Iraq right in the middle of the Afghanistan conflict almost certainly cost us the capture of at least Bin Laden. We had him cornered right before the CIA essentially let him go by allowing Afghani tribal forces to guard the border with Pakistan. We knew that many of them supported Bin Laden, and yet we let them handle the job, instead of U.S. soldiers. Read the book "Jawbreaker" if you want to see how the government screwed up capturing Bin Laden while he was cornered in the Tora Bora mountains. How bout Clinton had Bin Ladin 4 times and let him go? That is where the Government screwed up. You act like you know everything about where Bin Ladin is and when. Look no one knows where he is and most people think he's been hiding in Pakistan since 9/11, We can't go in there cause they have nukes....so we are just out of luck. The bolded statement is just completely dumb, biased and false in every respect of the word. Although I dont like Kerry and am not sure of his full qualities of being a president there is no proof that above statement would be close to being true. If anything you can reward these actions to the undertakings of the military soliders and military intelligence more then this adminstration currently in power.
June 8, 200618 yr WHOO! Great news, but i'm hopeing that this doesn't lead to a large scale revenge attack by alquieda. Also, Wildmarlin man, stop turning everything FutureGM says into "Liberal spin", can't he ever give an opinion without you or someone else accusing him of having bias leftist ideals? You don't think that any of his beliefs come from his own mind? Yes, he downplayed the killing of a top terrorist, but his criticisms are not out of line. Again, contrats to the Iraqi's who won't have to put up with this man.
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