Zarqawi dead - confirmed

[kurtangleitstrue]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Umm, how did we know all about his scar patterns and fingerprints.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br><br>The US government didn't even know how many legs he had. Their first reports on Zarqawi said he had only one leg, which they later changed to two. <br><br>When the first guess as to the number of legs a person has is one, how reliable is anything guessed after that supposed to be? <p></p><i></i>

[stickdog99]

Interview with Khalilzad from two days ago:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/14751440.htm">www.fortwayne.com/mld/new...751440.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br> The American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, was rushing to his residence from a visit to a new electrical plant in Baghdad, a landmark at a time when Iraqis get only a few hours of electricity a day. Next he was taking Dennis Hastert, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, to meet Iraq's new prime minister, Nouri Kamal al-Maliki. Then on to confer with Gen. George Casey, head of U.S. forces in Iraq, about a new security plan Maliki is developing to try to halt the anarchy overtaking Baghdad.<br><br>...<br><br>Many Iraqis ask whether this long-awaited government will make any difference. In an interview at his residence, adorned with oriental rugs, and paintings by Iraqi-Americans, Khalilzad was frank about the hurdles ahead. On the positive side are the character traits displayed by Maliki since taking office. "He is a good chief executive," Khalilzad says. "You ask a question, and he looks at the options and makes decisions. He sets priorities." This is a huge improvement over Maliki's predecessor, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who had trouble making decisions and tended to ramble in meetings and interviews.<br><br>A second positive is the presence of Sunnis in the government. "Their participation is a strategic change," says the ambassador. But Sunni participation is not enough.<br><br>Sectarian violence has increased since the bombing of an important Shiite shrine in February by Sunni extremists led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; he just called again on his followers to murder Shiites. The bombing provoked Shiite militias to seek revenge, which frightens Sunnis into looking to their own militants for protection. Down this road lies civil war.<br><br>"In the next three to six months," Khalilzad says, "the Iraqi people will judge the impact of this government on sectarian violence and reconciliation. The new prime minister understands this. The question is the doing."<br><br>...<br><br>"You have a very skeptical population (in Iraq) that want to see results," says Khalilzad. The ambassador's new mission will be to help Maliki produce. <p></p><i></i>

[stickdog99]

I'm beginning to see why this card was played at this time. An article from yesterday:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/14756538.htm">www.philly.com/mld/inquir...756538.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Squabbles among fellow Shiites over who should get the ministries had prevented Maliki from keeping his promise. That day painted a stark picture of the challenges confronting this national unity government, on which Iraqi and U.S. hopes hang. Rather than bring Iraqis together, this government has reflected Iraq's fragmentation. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The situation may be salvaged, but it will take determined leadership from a handful of key Iraqi politicians, as well as from the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Maliki tried from the start to act like a leader. He promised a new plan to secure Baghdad and flew to the key oil city of Basra to try to halt wars between Shiite militias and gangs. He made the pledge to name the ministers.<br><br>But Iraq's new constitution keeps the prime minister impossibly weak - a reaction to the Hussein dictatorship. And the Iraqi political culture ties him in knots.<br><br>...<br><br>This system has made many Iraqis sour on democracy quickly. They are hungry for strong leadership. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Over and over, I've heard Iraqis say Hussein could have restored order in two weeks.<br><br>This is why it is so crucial for Maliki to be able to act as a national leader who stands above the interests of sectarian parties. </strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> <br><br>...<br><br>It is unclear how or if that can be done. But the prospects for Iraq and for U.S. troop withdrawals depend on whether Maliki can lead. <p></p><i></i>

[stickdog99]

Still another version from the Jordanians:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/feeds/afx/2006/06/08/afx2801770.html">www.forbes.com/finance/fe...01770.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>In Amman, a senior Jordanian official said 'Zarqawi was killed in Baquba ... in a joint operation involving the Jordanian intelligence, the US intelligence and American special operations forces.'<br><br>'It was a land operation with air cover,' he added.<br><br>According to the official, Jordanian-born Zarqawi was 'presiding over a meeting of his terrorist group' at the time of the operation.<br><br>'He died ten minutes after the operation, along with eight to 10 of his partisans,' the official added.<br><br>He was identified by the agents that carried out the raid who compared recent pictures of Zarqawi with the body,' the official said.<br><br>(and while every was cheering ...)<br><br> And in another step aimed at returning security to the insurgency-wracked country, Maliki also made long-awaited appointments to the defence and interior ministries.<br><br>Jawad Polani was named as interior minister, Abdel Qader al-Obeidi as defense minister and Shirwan al-Waili to head national security.<br><br>The candidates read out their credentials and experience to the parliament prior to a vote. Parliament members were also given the opportunity to question the candidates. <br> <p></p><i></i>

[stickdog99]

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/0608family.html?COXnetJSessionIDbuild139=EH0KCBJHHxriZA7qdLY0bONHJnFS1xE3A8HOEremXADA0cVc36Bn!-991889392&UrAuth=%60N_NUOcN\UbTTUWUXUWUZT[UaUWUcUaUZUcU\UcTYWYWZV&urcm=y">www.ajc.com/news/content/...WZV&urcm=y</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Al-Zarqawi's family anticipated his death<br><br>Associated Press<br>Published on: 06/08/06<br><br>AMMAN, Jordan — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's older brother said Thursday that the family had anticipated the death of the notorious al-Qaida in Iraq leader for some time.<br><br>"We anticipated that he would be killed for a very long time," Sayel al-Khalayleh told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Zarqa, the poor industrial hometown of al-Zarqawi from which he derives his name. His real name is Ahmed Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalayleh.</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br>The understatement of the century? <p></p><i></i>

[stickdog99]

Zarqawi more fiction than fact:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/04/wirq04.xml">www.telegraph.co.uk/news/...wirq04.xml</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[stickdog99]

WaPo - US Military Hypes Up Zarqawi (a US mil PSYOP):<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900890.html">www.washingtonpost.com/wp...00890.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=stickdog99>stickdog99</A> at: 6/8/06 5:36 am<br></i>

[stickdog99]

E & P - How the NY Times played along:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002314713">www.editorandpublisher.co...1002314713</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[stickdog99]

Rolling Stone - Hyping Zarqawi:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/nataffdaily/story/9753195/hyping_zarqawi">www.rollingstone.com/poli...ng_zarqawi</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[stickdog99]

Michel Chossudovsky - Who is behind "Al Qaeda in Iraq"? Pentagon acknowledges fabricating a "Zarqawi Legend"<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060418&articleId=2275">www.globalresearch.ca/ind...cleId=2275</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[yathrib]

Auditions all next week!<br><br>Seriously... The guy wanted armed foreigners to leave his country! What a wacko! <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=yathrib>yathrib</A> at: 6/8/06 8:58 am<br></i>

[HMKGrey]

Yeah, because if someone dropped two 500lb bombs on my house, I'm sure there would be a whole lot of me left to identify through finger prints and scars. Oh, and I'd probably take a pretty picture too. <br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[CyberChrist]

This is something like the fifth time that Zarqawi has been killed. <p>--<br>CyberChrist<br>http://www.hackerjournal.org<br>My brain is hung like a horse.</p><i></i>

[greencrow0]

Remember how an anonymous member of the Bush WH cabal bragged that the neoCons could 'create their own reality'?<br><br>Well, now they just created a 'good news day' to offset all the unrelenting bad news days they've had recently.<br><br>GC <p></p><i></i>

[HMKGrey]

Hey, isn't today also the anniversary of the Prophet Mohammeds' death? <p></p><i></i>