I’m starting to think that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may be dead.
(For those not following this part of the news, he’s been the head al-Qa’eda villain in Iraq.)
I mean, at first I was skeptical.
Some Arab TV station was reporting that he and seven others blew themselves up in Mosul to avoid getting caught.
Yeah, right. What some Arab TV station says plus ten dollars will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Then several more Arab TV stations reported the same thing.
Okay, put ’em all together plus ten bucks and you can still get that steamysweet cup of frappuchinomochococoalatte.
But y’know what?
There really WAS an incident in Mosul where a bunch of terrorists in a house blew themselves up to avoid capture.
And it appears that the group included people from Zarqawi’s immediate leadership team, so maybe he was there, too.
And now the U.S. military has announced that they’re doing DNA tests on the bodies from Mosul to see if any of them are Zarqawi.
And then there’s all this Zarqawi not being all over the news personally the last few days.
I mean, if you’re a terrorist mastermind waging an insurgency campaign and a rumor gets out that you’re dead then the first thing you’d better do is blow something up and then issue a statement to prove that you’re still alive, y’know?
I mean, you just can’t let those "Zarqawi is dead" rumors get very far. Not if you want to retain command and control of your organization and keep . . . well . . . inspiring terror in people.
People stop being afraid of someone who they think is dead. (I mean, unless he’s Dracula or something.)
So where’s Zarqawi?
I’m thinking that he may have shuffled himself off this mortal coil, joined the infernal choir invisible, and become an ex-terrorist.
Also, even if he’s not dead,
HE JUST HAD A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO-GOOD, VERY BAD WEEK.
Zarqawi is dead. They are doing DNA testing from the laptop of his that they found in his old “safe house”. They can also get DNA samples from the 50 some odd family members of his who denounced him earlier this week (why just now?) too. Also, Zarqawi is known to wear a bomb vest so that he can detonate himself so he won’t be tortured in order to extract more information. It’s too bad we couldn’t have gotten him alive to grab bin Laden (I think he’s dead, too, though) and with reports from Rice announcing that we won’t see as many troop installments lately… I dunno, but it all just fits in together nicely. Sorry for the runon sentence but I’ve just been up working all night. 🙂
Zarqawi is dead. Dread Pirate Roberts lives on!
I’ll wait for the DNA results; I’m just glad I’m not the guy that had to collect the samples. Explosive vests give a new meaning to “It’s all over.”
Another interesting perspective I’ve thought of: What if some of his Jordanian relatives tipped off the Iraqis or the Americans to collect their $25 million reward for their newly denounced relative?
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2005-11-23T141819Z_01_SIB351463_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-ZARQAWI-DENIAL.xml&rpc=22
DUBAI (Reuters) – Al Qaeda in Iraq said media reports that its leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi was killed by U.S. forces were a “lie”, according to an Internet statement posted on Wednesday.
“The media has lately circulated this news that was announced by the Crusaders (U.S.) about the death of the leader of the group in an armed confrontation … which was an additional lie,” the group said on a Web site statement.
A U.S. official said on Sunday U.S. authorities were looking
into whether Zarqawi was killed during fighting in northern Iraq but a White House spokesman later said that was “highly unlikely.”
Where’s the video or photo? They obviously have access to Internet, so where’s a recent video or photo of Zarqawi and not just some lame message posted to a forum? The more this develops… the more I think it’s true. Would be awesome to announce this on thanksgiving for Bush… “Oh, by the way, Zarqawi’s dead, happy thanksgiving.”
Can anyone differentiate between a Terrorist,
Insurgent, Freedom Fighter ?
My Catholic friends who are from Iraq, do not see the benefit of the present coalition effort under way since 2003. Before 2003, they had complete freedom of religion. Today it is impossible for them to practice their faith, since the nation has been become a staging ground for non stop battles between coalition forces and insurgents.
Incidently, on the day the Coalition forces began operations in Iraq ( in 2003) all of the bishops of Iraq in union with each other,
consecrated their country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
One astute priest I know believes this may be the reason for what he sees as the ultimate failure of the coalition forces. Sort of like the battle of Lepanto in 1571 when Heaven took sides with the Catholics, he thinks the same is happening today.
One astute priest I know believes this may be the reason for what he sees as the ultimate failure of the coalition forces. Sort of like the battle of Lepanto in 1571 when Heaven took sides with the Catholics, he thinks the same is happening today.
Ohhhh-Kay. And the failure of the coalition forces would be good, because???
I don’t see how the failure of the coalition forces would be good for religious freedom for Catholics or any other religious group. Unless you think that the re-establishment of a totalitarian regime to supress all groups would be good.
Spain was a dictatorship, and it was Catholic.
Maybe that can happen in Iraq.
CatholicDefender’s advocacy of a dictatorship (as opposed to simply a monarchy) earns him STRIKE ONE.
Do they still get the 72 virgins if they blow themselves up?
And yes, the fact that Al Qaeda is loudly denying the news makes me wonder if it isn’t true after all. Sort of like Russia and China denying that they had any home-grown AIDS cases.
I heard on the news the other night that Abu Musab Al Zarqawi is the number one wanted person in the world (by the U.S.A.)
can someone please tell me or tell Mr Bush… whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden?
Why isn’t Bin Laden number one still and if not, they why not?
…dread pirate roberts
R*O*F*L
can someone please tell me or tell Mr Bush… whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden?
because maybe we haven’t heard a thing of bin Laden in years? he’s probably dead. zarqawi is now the main man in the operations. give bush a break lefty :p
Chances are he was splashed in 2001 or 2002.
CatholicDefender/NeoConSpy/CatholicTheologian-
It is both sad and astonishing how your hatred of the Jews gives you common cause with those who blew up the World Trade Center.
Or was THAT a Jewish plot, too?
If Osama has been dead for years, how do you guys explain the tape released last year?
Dear tim J:
I believe Osama was killed a few years ago.
Perhaps during one of the bombing operations.
And I am the first to say ,I could be wrong.
I love my protestants neighbors as much as my Jewish neighbors. With one set of neighbors being Jewish and the other Protestant, I live in a diverse neighborhood. In 15 years, I have probably been invited to the home of my Jewish neighbors 500 times, maybe more, and they have been invited to ours just as many. In other words not a week goes by that we do not visit with each. When they only invite relatives to their home for special events, our family is included. I would suggest I have more Jewish friends than the average Catholic. We talk about our different beliefs, and while they reject Jesus, and I reject their beliefs, I can and will still be friends with them. I hope that clears the air.
I have read some well written articles by Scientists and a physics professor who have been confounded by the collapse of the WTC on 9/11,
They claim a normal collapse of a building that tall would be much slower due to the laws of decreasing momentum, which is a foundational law of physics. The rate of collapse of
building #7 was only .6 of a second less than if one dropped a rock off the building. They claim that could only happen if a building was rigged for a planned demolition. To add further puzzlement to this story, building #7 gets ‘ pulled’ ( according to its owner) and just falls into ash, based on a small fire. How this is all reconciled and who if anyone might have had a hand in this is not my area of expertise.
Just like the JFK murder, the events of 9/11 have many scientists and civil engineers asking questions. I keep a open mind, even knowing that
FEMA was one of the lead investigative agencies.
hate
n : the emotion of hate; a feeling of dislike so strong that it
demands action [syn: hatred] [ant: love]
v : dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards; “I
hate Mexican food”; “She detests politicians” [syn:
detest]
But we haven’t answered the most important question. If Al has slipped the mortal coil, what is he pining for? The dunes?
Coincidence? Mebbe.
Earlier this week I was reading a book by Kim “Howard” Johnson. Tonight I read this post from Jimmy Akin:
HE JUST HAD A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO-GOOD, VERY BAD WEEK.
Another Judith Viorst fan!
Sorry to hijack the topic, but I read her “Alexander” book to my 1st. graders, and they loved it!