al-Zarqawi and Abdul Rahman Killed!!!
Yes, you read it right.
UPDATE: HotAir’s Airstrike Remix [VIDEO]
As the great AllahPundit notes: “Dedicated to all the brothers and sisters at Yearly Kos, who I know would enjoy this little bit of triumphalism as much as I do.”
UPDATE II: Iraqis celebrate the death of Zarqawi
The AP’s Patrick Quinn is reporting that terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
“has been killed in a U.S. air raid north of Baghdad, Iraq’s prime minister said Thursday. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi was killed Wednesday evening along with seven aides.”
You should’ve seen the smiles on U.S. Ambassador Khalilzad’s and Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki’s faces as they announced the deaths. I’ll guarantee that this will be a major boost to President Bush’s approval ratings. People have been dispirited with news about the Haditha incident and a perceived lack of progress in Iraq. That perception should be discredited immediately by Zarqawi’s killing.
While continuing to monitor the press conference in Iraq on FNC:
Gen. George Casey said that, in addition to Zarqawi being killed in the airstrike, Sheikh Abdul Rahman was killed with him. The airstrike was on an “isolated safehouse approximately 8 km north of Baquba.”
Needless to say that killing both Zarqawi and Sheikh Abdul Rahman is a huge deal, even bigger than just getting Zarqawi. FNC’s Greg Palkot said that the killing of Zarqawi will change the dynamic in Iraq in that Zarqawi was able to recruit people all the way from Europe to come kill Americans. Palkot also noted that Zarqawi was far more ruthless than Zawahiri, being totally willing to kill fellow Muslims, including women and children.
UPDATE: Fox is reporting that the Iraqi Parliament has confirmed the Defense and Interior ministers. They haven’t given the names of those ministers confirmed.
UPDATE II: Here’s a Gen. Casey quote from an AFP article that’s significant:
“Tips and intelligence from Iraqi senior leaders from his network led forces to al-Zarqawi and some of his associates, who were conducting a meeting approximately eight kilometers (five miles) north of Baquba, when the air strike was launched.”
The significance of this can’t be underestimated. To have gotten the tip that led to Zarqawi’s death in the airstrikes from his inner circle can’t make whoever succeeds Zarqawi more than a bit nervous.
UPDATE III: Fox & Friends are interviewing Stephen Schwartz, author of “The Two Faces of Islam”. Schwartz is absolutely jubilant, citing the fact that the tip that triggered the airstrike came from Zarqawi’s inner circle. He’s saying that this is confirmation of what he’s been hearing that the Saudis are getting serious about fighting the GWOT. He also said that this tells him that the Iraqi people were putting alot of pressure on the terrorists. Schwartz said that this is definitely a major turning point. I hope so but I’ll wait to see if it turns out that way.
UPDATE IV: President Bush will deliver a statement on the killing of Zarqawi from the White House at 6:30am CT. Expect him to congratulate the Iraqi government on this & on the confirmation of their Defense & Interior Ministers. He’s also likely to thank the Jordanians for their help in pinpointing Zarqawi’s location.
UPDATE V: FNC’s Brett Baier is opining that, based on conversations that he’s had with senior defense officials, that they consider this a bigger get than bin Laden himself because Zarqawi is “more involved operationally.” WOW!!!
UPDATE VI: Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney is guessing that a Hellfire missile from a Predator drone is what they used to kill Zarqawi. He said, too, that Task Force 145 likely wasn’t too close to this ’safehouse’ because it might’ve tipped them off that something was about to happen.
UPDATE VII: “A violent man will kill no more.” So says President Bush. Also, Dan Senor is on Fox right now. He’s saying that the symbolism involved in this is huge. It’s my opinion that the killing of Zarqawi & the naming of the Defense & Interior ministers, along with broadcasts of people rummaging through the remains of the safehouse, will have the same uplifting of spirits in the region that the images of the purple fingers following the January 31, 2005 had. This is HUGE!!!
The Pentagon has confirmed that it was a pair of 500 lb. bombs from an F-16 that took the safehouse out AND that it was Sheikh Abdul Rahman that gave the military the final tip on Zarqawi’s location. It’s ironic that he was killed with Zarqawi.
UPDATE VIII: Maj. Gen. Caldwell: “a treasure trove of information.” Gen. Caldwell also indicated that they were now rolling up part of Zarqawi’s network that they’d left in place until they got their man.
Technorati Tags: Zarqawi, al Qaida in Iraq, Zawahiri, Khalilzad, al-Maliki
Cross-post at LetFreedomRingBlog
June 8th, 2006 at 1:26 am
[...] Cross-posted at California Conservative Categories: Iraq, Terrorism, President Bush | [...]
June 8th, 2006 at 2:18 am
Iraq releases hundreds of prisoners
Hundreds of newly freed Iraqi prisoners kissed the ground after being dropped at bus stations Wednes
June 8th, 2006 at 4:17 am
Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi Is Dead…Again
Are these guys for real, and whose side are they on exactly. Their own, yeah that sums it up: “Where is Osama? Where are the batillions of trained Iraqis? Doesn’t matter, we got this guy, right? We wrote a 25 million check as a reward, and get a ne…
June 8th, 2006 at 4:18 am
Couldn’t have happened to a less nice fella
This is great news of course, but the job isn’t done in Iraq. The insurgency needs to be squashed. Anyone want to start taking predictions as to how long before a Democrat is heard whining that Zarqawi’s death was timed for political effect?
I thi…
June 8th, 2006 at 5:16 am
[...] bRight & Early has more here, Captains Quarters here, California Conservative Here, Michelle Malkin Here [...]
June 8th, 2006 at 7:08 am
Couldn’t we have killed him 3 years ago? Glad he is gone, but should have done it before the chaos he created.
June 8th, 2006 at 7:37 am
Unfortunately, this won’t have any more impact on the insurgency than Saddam’s capture did. It is a high profile event, but not, given the nature of occupations and insurgencies, a significant one.
June 8th, 2006 at 8:02 am
Whoo! I was beginningto worry. Thank god we got one of the terrorists! Now all we have to do is round up all the others, including the ones our presence in Iraq spawn daily! Outta be a breeze.
June 8th, 2006 at 8:11 am
Breaking News: U.S. officials: Al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been killed.
Breaking News: U.S. officials: Al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been killed.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed overnight in an operation by U.S. Special Operations Forces, U.S. military officials to…
June 8th, 2006 at 8:12 am
Let me just say that as a self-admitted liberal, I am THRILLED to see this. No statements from me about anything else right now - credit is due to the brave collation troops and the intelligence services for tracking him and getting him. Hoooray for positive news! We are in this together, and I personally am happy for any good news from Iraq. Hope the morale of the terrorists is low tonight!
June 8th, 2006 at 8:46 am
This may provide a temporary bump from Bush, but not for long as this doesn’t really change much in Iraq…Al Qaeda is estimated to be responsible for only 5-10% of the violence, and the genie of Civil War is out of the bottle.
June 8th, 2006 at 8:54 am
Zarqawi Eliminated!
From Reuters:BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced on Thursday that al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been killed in a joint U.S. and Iraqi military raid north of Baghdad. Jordanian-born Zarqawi is blamed by
June 8th, 2006 at 9:00 am
I’m just glad he’s dead
For today, that’s all I need
June 8th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Ding Dong, the Wicked Witch is Dead
“I’m here for my 72 virgins.”
June 8th, 2006 at 9:25 am
One Down
We all know that the war against the jihadists is far from over, and this really only changes things a little; it’s a baby step, as it were, but a baby step forward is a step in the right direction. A victory is a victory, and there’s not…
June 8th, 2006 at 9:42 am
Now we just need to deal with the real problem in Iraq, sectarian violence. That is and has always been a MUCH bigger problem then foreign terrorists. When you depose from power an elite minority that controls most of the wealth and weaponry in the country, you end up with 50 people dead a day in mass sectarian killings.
let’s keep our eyes on the ball here and not get distracted by spinnable but relatively insignificant good news.
June 8th, 2006 at 9:58 am
I’m just sorry the guy wasn’t eaten alive by the reanimated corpses of the people he murdered while Allah looked on laughing.
Bush shouldn’t act like this is a personal triumph, though. The CIA had Zarqaw in in their gun-sights long before anyone knew who he was, and the Bush administration let him live fearing that an assassination would set back plans for the Iraq invasion. Not the smartest move in the world.
June 8th, 2006 at 10:25 am
“Zarqawi Has Been Eliminated”
The man in the picture is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of the terrorist insurgency in Iraq that has cliamed the lives of thousands of innocent civilians. Under normal circumstances death is not to be celebrated, but in Zarqawi’s case,
June 8th, 2006 at 10:55 am
“As NBC News reported back in 2004, U.S. military planners drew up plans to take out Zarqawi three times in 2002 and 2003, but the Bush administration killed the plans each time. Why? Because, military officials told NBC, the Bush administration feared that destroying Zarqawi’s terrorist camp in Iraq “could undercut its case for war against Saddam.”
Right wingers are so dense, it’s scary. Pathetic, really.
June 8th, 2006 at 10:55 am
“I’ll guarantee that this will be a major boost to President Bush’s approval ratings”
Care to back up that guarantee? This small victory will be (rightly) forgetton about in a week.
NY Conservative has it right, Al Qaeda isn’t the biggest problem Iraq has right now.
June 8th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
From WaPo:
“Bush echoed Iraqi and U.S. military leaders in cautioning that Zarqawi’s death would not in itself halt the bloodshed in Iraq.”
Bush is a moonbat now! Just looking for the negative in this time of rejoicing…
June 8th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
This small victory will be (rightly) forgetton about in a week.
This isn’t a “small victory” as alot of people are characterizing it. Zarqawi was a huge terrorist recruiter, including from Europe. He also was the man who solicited donations. Most importantly, he was THE OPERATIONS MASTER.
A number of senior DoD officials said that getting Zarqawi was far bigger than getting bin Laden because Zarqawi was involved in so many different aspects.
Furthermore, this story will be the buzz in Washington for a week +.
June 8th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
Zarqawi’s Death from the Illiberals’ Perspective
For the vast majority of Americans — and Westerners in general — news of Zarqawi’s death is cause for celebration. But in the darkest corners of the blogosphere, where the illiberals lurk, the death of Zarqawi takes on a different
June 8th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
JT, meet David Flores.
You write: “Bush is a moonbat now! Just looking for the negative in this time of rejoicing…”
David Flores writes: “Bush shouldn’t act like this is a personal triumph, though.”
Together, you can both be happy!
June 8th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Al Qaeda In Iraq Leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Killed
As you most probably know, I’m staying with some family until I move back to my home state of Vermont next week, and am not posting much until I’ve settled in to my own place after my move. But while…
June 8th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Doesn’t the koran have rules about how Muslim dead should be treated?
As an opportunist, I propose that we break all of the rules for this prick!
* Get some orthodox rabbis to piss on the carcass
* Drag the carcass through some pig shit
* Behead the carcass, hang it up by the feet, a la Mussolini
* Give the head to Bush to kick across the White House lawn, followed by a victory dance, like football players do in the end zone after getting
a touchdown.
June 8th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
His funeral sermon should be “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And in hell he lift his eyes, being in torments…and he cried and said…have mercy on me…dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”- Matthew 25:41, Luke 16:23-24
June 8th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Thank you to American and her Brave soldiers, Iraqis too, they have done the world a favour and rid the earth of this pig filth.
Hope you guys are celebrating, you should be.
June 8th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Enemies and Friends of Freedom: The Contrasting Views of Zarqawi’s Death
The best way to distinguish between the enemies and friends of freedom–and thus the enemies and friends of America–is to look at the responses to Zarqawi’s death. Fox News has put together a collage of reactions to Zarqawi’s death from
June 8th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
This changes that dynamic considerably becaus Zarqawi wasn’t able to recruit terrorists from Europe & Saudi Arabia. Once that happened, he started recruiting Sunnis that were ok with Saddam to attack Shi’ites. Then factor in the 19 raids immediately after they killed Zarqawi & you’ve got a significant step forward.
While violence will be sustained for awhile, look for it to drop significantly by August or early September at latest.
Let’s remember that Zarqawi was a Sunni & that he was the mastermind & operational chief of the sectarian violence.
June 8th, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Hamas Mourns Death of Beloved Zarqawi
Once again, Hamas has revealed their terrorrist stripes, mourning the death of the notorious terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Hamas has labeled the successful military operation that ended Zarqawi’s life a savage crusade campaign, whatever that means. …
June 9th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Al-Quaida’s al-Zawahri Overlooks Zarqawi’s Death in New Tape
Apparently, the sophistication of the al-Qaida terrorist network ends where information flows begin. While the better half of the free world was celebrating the death al-Zarqawi yesterday, al-Qaida’s No.2 henchman, Ayman al-Zawahri, was busy producin…
June 16th, 2006 at 6:59 am
Let’s get an update on the “I’ll guarantee that this will be a major boost to President Bush’s approval ratings†prediction:
From Tim Grieve (Salon.com):
“In the three major polls taken since Zarqawi’s death was announced, Bush’s approval ratings are up one point (NBC/Wall Street Journal), up two points (Gallup) and down two points (CBS). The Wall Street Journal calls Bush’s standing with the public “essentially unchanged”; while the president’s approval rating ticked up one point in its latest poll, so too did his disapproval rating.”
This lame-ass administration’s approval ratings will not easily be lifted out of the 30’s (where they belong)!
June 16th, 2006 at 7:07 am
Or you can look at yesterday’s Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll which has him at 40 percent, a 5 point gain since Zarqawi’s death.
June 17th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
Fox poll? I’m so surprised. The NON-partisan polling report shows an average of 37% approval rating of polls since June 9th.
see http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm
Most Americans realize finding Zarqawi won’t change the situation much in Iraq. According to US Military officials in Iraq, foreign fighters are less than 10% of the overall insurgency. Zarqawis role has been greatly exagerrated so you wing-nuts continue to beleive in this vast terror network that’s supposedly threatens our freedom. Please. Meanwhile the Bush admin gets a short-lived and insignificant bump in ratings as their pom-pom waving supporters try to convince us that Zarqawis death changes anything in Iraq.
Pathetic.
June 17th, 2006 at 5:23 pm
Tom, My blogging partner’s son is in Iraq right now. It isn’t the administration that’s saying Zarqawi was behind the sectarian violence. It’s the military that’s said that from Day One. Zarqawi even took credit for the bombing of the Samarrah Mosque.
Dipshits like you will be whining by November, when we win seats in the House & Senate. Oh, that’s right. That’s when idiot moonbats like you will have 100 conspiracy theories about voting machines changing Democratic votes into Republican votes, Republican threats & intimidations disenfranchising thousands of black voters, etc.
There’s a reason why you keep losing elections. That reason is moonbat idiots so far out of touch that you drive people away from the few sane Democrats left.
June 19th, 2006 at 6:55 am
And yet another prediction from our great prognisticator! A bold prediction would be to hang on to seats, but to actually take seats? Now this I gotta see!
Oh, and my cousin’s, ex-boyfriend’s, babysitter’s brother KNOWS a PFC working laundry detail in Iraq- and his first-hand information told me that the sectarian warfare has already developed such a momentum of its own, it’s going to be very, very difficult to stop it.
Have you read the headlines lately, Gary? Doesn’t look like the violence has subsided much. Oh well, maybe if we keep cheering loud enough it will all get better.
July 26th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
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