Al-Zarqawi is seen in an image
from a video aired in April by
the Al-Jazeera network.


Iraqi soldiers dance with a woman
Thursday in Baghdad after hearing
that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead.

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Airstrike kills terror leader al-Zarqawi in Iraq
U.S. hails attack on 'godfather of sectarian killing'

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)

Al-Zarqawi, who 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 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. . . .

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.

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Originally posted by pleco

Good riddance.

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Originally posted by Starman

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Originally posted by pleco

Good riddance.

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Yep, though in his case a life sentence in a pig pen would have been more suitable.

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Originally posted by Kil

Listening to NPR this morning, interviewing many experts including our ambassador to Iraq, I conclude that this is more of a political victory and will not really do much to stem the insurgency or sectarian violence. Indeed, just this morning there has already been two bombings in Baghdad…

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Originally posted by filthy

Kil is correct. Whether they got him or not, it changes nothing except perhaps Shithead's poll numbers. And that in itself arouses suspicion, as he and Rove has a history of inventing convenient "news."

I await the DNA reports from sources more reliable than Fox, et al.

I wonder; will he cram a couple of kumquats into his jock strap and tell us that some mission or other has been accomplished?

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Originally posted by HalfMooner

I think they indeed did get him. The military says they've already verified it's al-Zarqawi via fingerprints, known scars, and features, and that DNA tests will be done as well. Plus, the image below sure looks like him to me:



The U.S. military showed this picture
of al-Zarqawi after he was killed.

Yes, both the the Dummy and the Rummy will shamelessly exploit this for a more than it's worth. But this guy was a fundie terrorist monster, so his death in itself is fine by me. To quote Martha Stewart, "It's a good thing."

What's not a good thing is the war in general as it's been, and is being, waged in Iraq.

Historically, I think that the sectarian violence will be considered the worst part of the mess over there. The American military death rate has actually declined significantly in recent months, as the fanatical religious factions go for the "softer" targets of their civilian compatriots. The death rate for Iraqis has absolutely gone ballistic, as the sectarian civil war grows.

I cannot think of another instance in history where a conquering army's presence has created a power vacuum. Even if the war had been justifiable, the incompetence of its execution by Rumsfeld would go down in the annals of deadly, criminally-mismanaged, ideologically-driven boneheadedness.

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And how did he still look like that after being the target of two big fucking bombs?

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