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Thread: AIRSTRIKE KILLS AL-ZARQAWI

  1. #1
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    AIRSTRIKE KILLS AL-ZARQAWI

    BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the coalition's most wanted man in Iraq, was killed in an airstrike near Baquba, jubilant U.S. and Iraqi authorities announced Thursday.

    Al-Zarqawi's death gives Iraq a chance to "turn the tide" in the fight against the nation's insurgency, President Bush said at the White House.

    "The ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive leaders," Bush said. "Zarqawi's death is a severe blow to al Qaeda."

    "Special Operations forces, acting on tips and intelligence from Iraqis, confirmed Zarqawi's location and delivered justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq," Bush said.

    Earlier, U.S. and Iraqi officials first announced the attack at a news conference in Iraq.

    The 3-year-old insurgency has "lost its leader," said U.S. Gen. George Casey, the highest-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq. Casey was joined during the announcement by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. (Watch the celebration following the announcement -- 4:31)

    Although details of the attack remain elusive, sources at the Pentagon said that a U.S. military aircraft dropped two 500-pound precision guided bombs on a safe house where al-Zarqawi was located.

    A Web site used by Al Qaeda in Iraq confirmed al-Zarqawi's death and urged its followers to continue the insurgent fight.

    Another Web site used by the group issued a statement: "People of Islam, God will not let our enemies celebrate and spread corruption in the ground. Expect the right that was stolen to come back to us and destroy the Crusaders" -- an apparent reference to U.S. troops in Iraq.

    CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the Web messages.

    Al-Zarqawi was the self-proclaimed leader of one of the nation's many insurgent factions -- al Qaeda in Iraq --who pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

    He had a $25 million bounty on his head, led foreign and Iraqi fighters in a series of dramatic and high-profile attacks against U.S. and Western targets and he was seen as leader of one of the factions in Iraq that fomented sectarian strife between the Sunni and Shiite communities.

    His killing is a major coup for the embattled coalition forces.

    "Today is a good day," U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Khalilzad told a said at the news conference. "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." (Watch how al-Zarqawi's body was identified -- 2:28)

    "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."

    Insider tips
    Casey said al-Zarqawi and a key lieutenant, spiritual adviser Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman, were at an isolated safe house outside Baquba at 6:15 p.m. (10:15 a.m. ET) on Wednesday.

    "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 north of Baquba when the airstrike was launched," he said.

    Baquba is a volatile area northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province, a mixed Shiite-Sunni jurisdiction. There have been many roadside bombings and shootings throughout the province and within the week, severed heads were found in fruit boxes there.

    "Iraqi police were first on the scene after the air strike, and elements of Multi-National Division North, arrived shortly thereafter," Casey said. "We have been able to identify al-Zarqawi by fingerprint verification, facial recognition and known scars."

    In addition to Zarqawi and the spiritual adviser, seven others died in the attack.

    Casey wouldn't provide many details about the action but said that "all of these operations are the result of a long, painstaking process where tips and intelligence are received, processed and checked out."

    This particular operation had been in the works for a couple of weeks, leading to the location of the house in a wooded area and the meeting, he said.

    Al-Maliki indicated that the strike on al-Zarqawi was the "result of cooperation" with ordinary Iraqis, saying that authorities many times have asked the citizenry to provide information.

    "This is a message to all those who take violence as a path."

    Khalilzad said the demise of al-Zarqawi won't end the violence in Iraq, but it is "an important step in the right direction."

  2. #2
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    I hope the 72 virgins are beat.

  3. #3
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    does he even get those virgins? since he didn't blow himself up...

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    Quote Originally Posted by MassLiberal
    does he even get those virgins? since he didn't blow himself up...

    yeah, he does

    but they are fat ones that look like his mom
    I resolve PC issues remotely. Need to get rid of all that pr0n you downloaded on your work laptop? Or did you just get a ton of viruses from searching for "geriatic midget sex"? Either way I can fix them. PM Me for maggot prices.

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    w00t! BEST DAY EVER. I hope he gets raped by 72 bubbas instead.

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    "Mission Accomplished" part deux. It'll all be wine and roses now...

    Best day ever, puhlease. I give it 3 days and we'll hear of the next guy - remember, his BOSS is still alive.

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    hell yeah...I hope they killed him with pork fat coated bombs.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tippster
    "Mission Accomplished" part deux. It'll all be wine and roses now...

    Best day ever, puhlease. I give it 3 days and we'll hear of the next guy - remember, his BOSS is still alive.
    While there is most definitely an element of truth in this statement, it is a significant event, nonetheless.

    Unfortunately, I do not have much faith in the administration's ability to use this victory to bring up the morale of the Iraqi people and spin this event as something positive in this war.

    I think there was a rift in Al Qaeda and I wouldn't be so apt to call bin laden Zarqawi's "boss." I think the two had different ideological philosophies regarding the waging of jihad on the west.

    However you feel about the war, Bush, etc., it is not a bad day when an animal, a man who personally beheaded many Americans and led a war aimed at people of his own faith, is taken down.
    Quote Originally Posted by Roo View Post
    I don't think I've ever seen mental illness so faithfully rendered in html.

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    It doesn't mean a damn thing in the scheme of the Iraqi (or non-Iraqi but Iraq-based insurgency). Every single suicide bomb/IED was not strategically thought out and orchestrated by Zarqawi, he was simply a figurehead in a movement that has become damn near impossible to beat because of its last of definitive leadership and organization. If anything, this will cause even more attacks against Americans in the country.

    "We will be greeted as liberators..."

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    Al Zarqawi dead = new martyr.

    Just the opinion of a likely ignorant layman, but I do not see this as doing anything other than solidifying insurgent resolve.

    With everything going on over there... The release that multiple innocent Iraqi citizens were killed as retribution by US forces... A story, that I have no educated opinion on, but a story that is being investigated and verified...

    The death of one of the insurgency capitals will not make the tasking of further offenses any less inviting to those whom are attracted to such.

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    No doubt - it's always good to have one less asshole, but this doesn't do shit to end the sectarian violence. Even the Pentagon admits this.

    The Jordanian-born terror leader was behind many high profile attacks and beheadings, Clarke said, but was not involved in most of the roadside bombings that have made Iraq so dangerous for coalition troops.

    "Al Qaeda in Iraq was probably the smallest of the 14 major insurgent groups," Clark said.
    http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/IraqCo...2052737&page=1

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bandogge
    Al Zarqawi dead = new martyr.

    Just the opinion of a likely ignorant layman, but I do not see this as doing anything other than solidifying insurgent resolve.

    With everything going on over there... The release that multiple innocent Iraqi citizens were killed as retribution by US forces... A story, that I have no educated opinion on, but a story that is being investigated and verified...

    The death of one of the insurgency capitals will not make the tasking of further offenses any less inviting to those whom are attracted to such.


    Absolutely, we should not have killed him. What a mistake.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rontele
    Unfortunately, I do not have much faith in the administration's ability to use this victory to bring up the morale of the Iraqi people and spin this event as something positive in this war.

    But I have extreme faith in this administrations ability to spin this as a "victory" for the midterm elections.
    Move upside and let the man go through...

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    look, that not what I'm saying...

    I will actually go as far as to say that Zarqawi most likely deserved his death, something I have a VERY hard time coming to terms with...

    However, what I am saying is that his death will NOT have a negative impact on the insurgency, IMO. In fact, I would wager the power vaccuum he left will most likely be the critical point for further insurgency actions and unification.

    But again, it's all just personal opinion, and with the filtered reports we get, the facts we are missing... I humour anybody whom thinks they trully understand the entirety of the situation from the comfort of their Western abode.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mofro261
    But I have extreme faith in this administrations ability to spin this as a "victory" for the midterm elections.
    Very true and...



    PW3NED
    Quote Originally Posted by Roo View Post
    I don't think I've ever seen mental illness so faithfully rendered in html.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mofro261
    I will actually go as far as to say that Zarqawi most likely deserved his death, something I have a VERY hard time coming to terms with...
    Are you OK..??








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    This will give Bush, at best, a temporary bump in the polls, it wont last to long however, as Zarqawi was already being shown out the door.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bandogge
    look, that not what I'm saying...

    I will actually go as far as to say that Zarqawi most likely deserved his death, something I have a VERY hard time coming to terms with...

    However, what I am saying is that his death will NOT have a negative impact on the insurgency, IMO. In fact, I would wager the power vaccuum he left will most likely be the critical point for further insurgency actions and unification.

    But again, it's all just personal opinion, and with the filtered reports we get, the facts we are missing... I humour anybody whom thinks they trully understand the entirety of the situation from the comfort of their Western abode.
    Absolutely they will spin it their way. What politician would not?

    I look at this as a personal victory for the troops over there. Could killing that scummbag make it any worse for them? Can it get any worse?

    Lets not forget that it is their job to kill scumbags like that, and he was at the top of the list. I wont take anything away from them, even if Bush does misuse this to his advantage.
    Last edited by Cono Este; 06-08-2006 at 07:58 AM.

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    When Bush starts wearing this like a hat, and he will, then we can pick him and his policy apart. For now, lets just be glad that fucker got what was comming to him.

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    I celebrate that an evil murderous scumbag is dead, and died at the hands of those he sought to harm.
    This does not change the fact that our Emperor Wears No Clothes in his war on terror or his boondoggle in Iraq.

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    One of the top sand niggers down, great news! fuck that scum bag

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    Quote Originally Posted by Donny Rumsfeld
    Nobody, but Zarqawi, had more innocent blood on his hands
    Except George Bush. This will ultimately be viewed as a victory for the neo-con policy of fighting the terrorists over there versus here. But unfortunately, in the end, we must as a society balance the fact that 10,000s of innocent people have died so that we could catch this single scumbag.

    That being said, i am very pleased and most of all this is a victory for our troops who are FIGHTING THEIR FUCKING ASSES off. Let them celebrate this and lets hope to temper expectations in lieu of this.

    And you better believe that UBL is pleased that this animal is dead. He was giving jihadism a bad name.
    Quote Originally Posted by Roo View Post
    I don't think I've ever seen mental illness so faithfully rendered in html.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gregb2212
    sand niggers down
    Great world outlook. Douche.
    Quote Originally Posted by Roo View Post
    I don't think I've ever seen mental illness so faithfully rendered in html.

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    [QUOTE=Cono Este] Could killing that scummbag make it any worse for them? Can it get any worse?[QUOTE]

    That in fact, is my main concern... and yes, I would wager it could get a whole hell of a lot worse... Uniting all curent insuregency groups together could theoretically make them a much stroger entity, in terms of shared inteligence, shared materials...

    JMO.

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    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."

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