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thedrifter
06-12-06, 06:44 AM
Sunday, Jun 11, 2006
How They Killed Him
The inside story of how al-Qaeda informants turned on Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, led U.S. forces to the terrorist's lair and ended a frustrating hunt for Iraq's most wanted man
By SCOTT MACLEOD, BILL POWELL

The dinner party had gathered last Wednesday evening in a farmhouse in the fertile, fruit-growing countryside just outside Baqubah, 30 miles north of Baghdad. One of the attendees was Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. With him were at least three women and three men, including Sheik Abdul-Rahman, al-Zarqawi's so-called spiritual adviser and confidant. Also in the house was one of al-Zarqawi's most trusted couriers, an aide tasked with relaying messages from the commander to militants in the field. What al-Zarqawi could not have known was that U.S. and Jordanian intelligence officials had been tracking the movements of Abdul-Rahman and the courier--whom Jordanian intelligence refers to as Mr. X--for weeks. Fewer than half a dozen members of a U.S. reconnaissance and surveillance team from Delta Force hid in a grove of date and palm trees, watching the building. After years of hunting, they finally had the prey in their sights.

But almost as soon as they took up position, the commandos feared they were about to lose him. A special-operations source tells TIME that the surveillance team was worried that there wasn't enough time to assemble a ground assault force to raid the house and capture al-Zarqawi; the commandos at the site lacked sufficient manpower and weaponry to attack on their own. As dusk neared, the team fretted al-Zarqawi might slip away if they waited too long. A knowledgeable Pentagon official says the Delta team "saw one group come into the house and one group exit." Al-Zarqawi was not in the departing group, but the commandos were afraid he might be in the next one. The recon unit's leader radioed his superiors to request an air strike. Two Air Force F-16s on another mission miles away were given the assignment. At 6:12 p.m., the first of two precision-guided 500-lb. bombs fell on the farmhouse. For anyone still inside, there was nowhere left to hide.

The U.S. wasn't taking chances. During the three-year hunt for him, al-Zarqawi was a maddeningly elusive target--a master of disguise who could pass as a woman in a burqa one day, an Iraqi policeman the next. He traveled in groups of women and children to lower suspicion and frequently moved with ease through checkpoints in Iraq. Although military commanders believe they came close to capturing al-Zarqawi on at least half a dozen occasions in the past two years, few had reason to anticipate an imminent breakthrough. But military and intelligence officials in Washington, Baghdad and Amman tell TIME that the net around al-Zarqawi tightened significantly in the weeks leading up to the strike--boosted by the cooperation of al-Qaeda informants willing to betray their leader. The U.S. scored the war's biggest triumph since catching Saddam Hussein thanks to the determination of a small group of American hunters, to a Jordanian King's desire to avenge an attack on his country and, as always, to a good deal of luck. "This wasn't two hours', two nights' or two weeks' work," says a government source. "This was years of work to get this one guy."

For all his bravado, al-Zarqawi knew he could be caught at any time. In January 2004, U.S. intelligence officers intercepted a 17-page letter addressed to Osama bin Laden in which al-Zarqawi expressed concern for his longevity. "[Iraq] has no mountains in which we can take refuge and no forests in whose thickets we can hide," he wrote. "Our backs are exposed and our movements compromised. Eyes are everywhere."

By that time, hunting al-Zarqawi and his senior aides was the primary responsibility of a secretive special-operations task force whose number designation changed constantly (it was recently called Task Force 145). It was made up of military intelligence operatives, counterterrorism commandos of the Delta Force, and the Navy's SEAL Team 6, plus Army Rangers. Although the task force had helped capture Saddam in December 2003, the search for al-Zarqawi proved more frustrating. In late 2004, Iraq security forces caught him near the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, but the al-Qaeda leader was able to talk his way out of custody. Several months later, according to special-ops sources, the task force's commandos closed in on his vehicle west of Baghdad near the Euphrates River, but he escaped. After every getaway, al-Zarqawi went further underground and beefed up his personal security. "I would like to say that every time we had a near miss, we got closer and closer," says a knowledgeable Pentagon official. "But that's not necessarily the case. After both close calls, there were periods where we had no information on him."

But early this year, the secret task force's luck began to change. Tips came in from Iraqi insurgents, former Baath Party members loyal to Saddam, some of whom objected to al-Zarqawi's viciousness and attacks against Shi'ites. U.S. officials say they also received valuable assistance from the government of Jordan, al-Zarqawi's home country. A Jordanian security official tells TIME that one month after the November 2005 suicide attacks on three hotels in Amman, which killed 60 people, Jordanian King Abdullah II ordered his intelligence officials to set up a new security branch, the Knights of God, to launch an offensive against terrorists outside the country's borders and eliminate al-Zarqawi. In addition to providing support to anti-Zarqawi tribes in Iraq, the Jordanians sought sources inside al-Qaeda who could lead them to the al-Qaeda boss. The official says that one informant, described as neither Jordanian nor Iraqi, made contact with three of al-Zarqawi's couriers, all of whom the Jordanians referred to as Mr. X. According to the official, the informant reported spotting one Mr. X in an area outside Baqubah last week. "Mr. X went to Baqubah, so we knew Zarqawi went there," says the official.

Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence operatives gave the special-ops task force a tantalizing lead. For nearly a month, the commandos had monitored every move of Abdul-Rahman, the spiritual adviser, whose locations had been revealed by an al-Qaeda operative captured in May near the Iraq-Jordan border. When Abdul-Rahman surfaced near Baqubah last week--apparently in the same location as the Jordanians' Mr. X--the commandos moved in for the kill. "We had absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Zarqawi was in the house," Army Major General William Caldwell told reporters in Baghdad the day after the strike. The Jordanian security official told TIME that the bombing killed Abdul-Rahman and Mr. X, in addition to al-Zarqawi's 16-year-old wife.

Remarkably, al-Zarqawi apparently survived the attack, at least for a short while. Iraqi police, Iraqi security forces and military helicopters bearing U.S. soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division swarmed over the safe house immediately after the strike. Iraqi police, Caldwell said, were the first on the scene, and they put al-Zarqawi onto a stretcher. A special-ops exploitation team trained to glean intelligence from raids arrived with photos, fingerprint smudges and descriptions of the scars and tattoos on his body, much of which had been supplied by Jordanian intelligence. As the team began examining him, according to Caldwell, al-Zarqawi muttered something and tried to "turn away off the stretcher." He was quickly "resecured" and died of his wounds shortly thereafter. After investigators on the scene positively identified him, word reached Pentagon officials as they awoke Thursday in Washington. "It's been a long, long effort," says one. "But we finally got the bastard."

In the wake of the attack, says the Jordanian security official, members of al-Zarqawi's organization in Iraq launched a series of interrogations in search of those who sold out their leader, leading Jordanian officials to hope that the hit is already causing dissension in jihadist ranks. U.S. intelligence officials believe al-Qaeda in Iraq is likely to name a successor soon, and the Bush Administration was careful to point out that the insurgency will outlive al-Zarqawi. But no one who comes next will have his twisted star power, at least not for a while. "The violence is not only al-Qaeda," says the Jordanian security official. "But this weakens one important link. It's a warning to all these groups that they are not immune. If we can get Zarqawi, we can get you too." [The following descriptive text appears within A diagram] The Strike

Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi had eluded U.S. forces for years. A special team of intelligence operatives was tracking his spiritual adviser, hoping for a break.

Then they learned the two were going to meet Wednesday afternoon THE HOUSE

A small Delta Force team of perhaps half a dozen, together with a handful of Iraqi security personnel, watches the house and confirms that al-Zarqawi and Sheik Abdul-Rahman, his adviser, are inside

6:12 p.m. TWO EXPLOSIONS

With darkness approaching and lacking enough forces to storm the house, the surveillance team calls for an air strike. Two Air Force F-16 fighters respond. One drops two precision bombs

Evening POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION

After the bombing, Iraqi security and 4th Infantry Division troops swarm over the scene. Al-Zarqawi dies of his injuries soon after he is found. His identity is confirmed through scars, tattoos and fingerprints F-16 FIGHTING FALCON A compact, light and versatile fighter jet. It is highly maneuverable and able to perform in both air-to-air and air-to-surface combat THE TARGET The house, made of cinder blocks and reinforced concrete, was set back in a grove of date palms, about 1.25 miles (2 km) northeast of the village of Hibhib First bomb GBU-12 A 500-lb. (227 kg) smart bomb that follows a laser signal to its target. An electronics pod under the aircraftÑor a spotter on the ground illuminates the target with a laser. A guidance system in the nose of the bomb detects that spot and controls the movements of the airfoils in the rear to steer the bomb toward the target. The bomb has a range of about eight miles (13 km) Second bomb GBU-38 Similar in weight to its counterpart, this one finds its target using GPS coordinates and satellite guidance
With reporting by SALLY B. DONNELLY, DOUGLAS WALLER/WASHINGTON, MARK THOMPSON, Saad Hattar/Amman, Reported by Brian Bennett, Charles Crain/Baghdad with TIME''s Baghdad bureau

Ellie

thedrifter
06-13-06, 07:15 AM
A Demon's Demise
Hamas mourns Zarqawi. In Iraq, the sane are celebrating.

BY MOHAMMED FADHIL
Tuesday, June 13, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT

BAGHDAD, June 11--Hamas's reaction to the death of Zarqawi caused the contempt of so many Iraqis. The printed and watched Iraqi media lashed out vigorously on Hamas, politicians and ordinary people on the streets are just equally angered by some Arabic official and media reactions which spoke of the criminal as if he were a hero.

It is totally unimaginable why someone would describe the head chopping, children murdering terrorist as a hero. It's disgusting and infuriating beyond words.

This wrongful description of evil is a major reason for misery in this region and it only contributes to justifying more unjustifiable death and violence. This makes one sometimes whishes that Iraq is somehow lifted away from these perverted sociopaths who surround us.

To say I was angry is the least I can say to describe how I felt reading the comments from Arabs (in Arabic) on a BBC forum. There was no surprise that all Iraqi commentators were pleased that we got rid of that vicious terrorists but on the other hand there was probably 90% of non-Iraqi Arab commentators who mourned him as a martyr.



Here I'm choosing only one comment that drew my attention because it shows how when hate prejudice reaches certain levels it blinds the minds and hearts of people. This one comment may be the most accurate to describe how thousands if not millions of people think in this region; this Arab commentator is telling frankly why he's sad without lying and without using decorated speech:

I think it reflects the truth in the way of thinking of unfortunately many Arabs; a truth that was released by an individual mouth carrying more courage of expression than those who appease and keep their inside hidden . . . Zarqawi's death means nothing at all because it's the byproduct of the despotic policy that exists in his home country, Jordan. There are thousands of Zarqawis in our nation who are getting persecuted and terrorized so they found their way to Iraq where they can vent, thanks to America who brought destruction to the region with the help of her agents (the rulers). And for your information, our information about Zarqawi is vague . . . is he a national hero, or a criminal terrorist? We don't know for sure but we see that our enemies are so happy that he's killed and that is what makes me feel sad for his death.

I'll end this with a comment from an Iraqi commentaror:

I used to be against killing people because of their perverted opinions or their anti-freedom doings but after I have seen and lived through their terrorism and anti-humanity extremism I say now that the only solution is to end the life of those who are not even humans. They poison the minds and thoughts of sane people. People, let the world live in freedom and happiness . . . I say it to all the sane and rational people; congratulations on the death of Zarqawi. [emphasis added]

I couldn't agree more, so if you are sane, come celebrate the moment with us, but if not, get prepared to mourn more demons.

Mr. Fadhil, along with his brother Omar, runs Iraq the Model, a blog based in Baghdad.

Ellie

thedrifter
06-13-06, 12:55 PM
Given to me by hubby...aka fontman

Ellie

On Decency and the Death of Zarqawi
June 13, 2006
By Jonathan David Morris

America is a strange country.

Last week, the U.S. military ended the life of one Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, a high-profile terrorist leader who had been wreaking relative havoc
both on Iraq as well as my MS Word
spellchecker for years. Like most Americans, I consider Zarqawi's death
to be generally helpful. I also tend to view him as someone who
fundamentally deserved to die. Anyone
who's seen the tape of him ripping Nick Berg's head off knows where I'm
coming from on this. The man had earned his demise. And in many
respects, he'd been asking for it for
years.

All the same, though, there seems to be a certain "ding-dong, the witch
is dead" mentality to the way some people are reacting to this story. I
find such jubilation to be at least mildly
morally troubling. And the reason I say this isn't because the guy
deserved our sympathy (he didn't), or because I hate the Wizard of Oz (I
do), but rather because, in a very real
way, this whole thing reminds me of Janet Jackson's nipple.

It was only a short while after Zarqawi's half-human heart stopped
beating that pictures of his dead face began showing up in papers and on
TV. Such images aren't unusual when
it comes to War on Terror news coverage. In fact, they're quite common.
Who can forget those touching photos of Saddam's dead sons, for
example, their faces all bloated and
their arms neatly draped across fake wooden logs with help from the
fine folks at Sears' Portrait Studio? Not a day goes by that I don't
regret not purchasing a wallet-size copy of
those photos when I still had the chance.

So I don't have a problem with seeing Zarqawi's dead face, in and of
itself. After all, I enjoy a dead face as much, if not more, than the
next guy. Ask anybody. I'm always up for a
viewing.

Still, I find it at least slightly bizarre that these images get on the
air with barely a whisper out of so-called decency groups (such as LL
Cool Brent Bozell's vaunted Media Research
Center), when, meanwhile, Janet Jackson flashes a weird,
ninja-star-wearing nipple for 0.0000009 seconds during that annual festival of
depravity, the Super Bowl, and it's nearly
enough to shut the country down.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have standards for these sorts of things.
I'm actually on the same page as the decency groups when it comes to
Janet Jackson (only in their case they
were offended to have seen a female breast, whereas I was mostly
offended that the breast in question turned out to be not so good looking).
But the contrast, the very double
standard, between sex and violence couldn't be any more clear here.
Show a dead terrorist's face-no problem. But show a nipple? All of a
sudden it's hide the kids, get off the
planes, stay out of the malls, the British are coming.

I think Bill O'Reilly put this whole issue into perspective better than
anyone last week when he said on his show, "The death of the terrorist
Zarqawi should be celebrated by decent
people everywhere." To me, this says everything about America's current
concept of decency. Because unless I'm missing something here, I always
assumed getting aroused by
someone's death was, you know, the opposite of decency.

Again, I'm not saying Zarqawi was anything less than a jerkface. And,
again, I'm not saying he didn't have it coming. But for years we've been
told our terrorist enemies were
ruthless, cold-blooded animals-primitive creatures, in fact, with no
respect for life. What are we, then, if we're breaking out the confetti
here? How come we can do it, and they can't?
Is it because we're "us" and they're "them"? And, if so, isn't that
sort of a little bit selfish? Or even indecent?

Furthermore, what kind of country are we living in when a nipple-not
even one of the more interesting genital classes, but a nipple-presents
us with a crisis in decency, while
cheering the death of a human being-even a vile, detestable human
being-is cool? Self-proclaimed "values" advocates are always talking about
"the children." Well, what does
this tell the children? That two slightly discolored, milk-giving flesh
disks pose a greater threat to civilization than the callous disregard
for human life?

I'm not going to sit here and tell you Americans ought to be mourning
the death of Zarqawi. Nor am I going to tell you we should in any way
feel bad for him. That would be moronic.
But step out of your shoes for just a moment, America. We complain
about terrorist cultures covering their women in burqas. We complain how
they're unable to see the value of
lives other than their own. Hell, we even complain about their utter
religious intolerance, even as we're buying Ann Coulter's new book,
Godless: The Church of Liberalism, in which
non-Republicanism-already linked by Coulter to terrorism-is equated
with out and out godlessness. Does the old theatrical cliché, "You know,
we're not so different, you and I," not
ring a bell here?

Maybe it's a good thing that Zarqawi is dead now. But a life is still a
life, and a death is still a death. And while some of the things that
happen in war may be necessary, that doesn't
make them fun and exciting like a three-point shot at the buzzer. War
is still war. And war is still unfortunate. That is the only good and
decent way to see it.

Anyone who has ever mourned the death of a soldier on our side has no
business clapping for the death of anyone on any side of any war
anywhere. Either every human life has
value, or no human life has value. If you can't understand this, you're
not just a hypocrite-you're enabling the very mentality that keeps the
world at war.

Even if Zarqawi did deserve it. Which he obviously did.

-30-

Semper Fidelis,
Mark

yellowwing
06-13-06, 01:22 PM
In January 2004, U.S. intelligence officers intercepted a 17-page letter addressed to Osama bin Laden in which al-Zarqawi expressed concern for his longevity. "[Iraq] has no mountains in which we can take refuge and no forests in whose thickets we can hide," he wrote. "Our backs are exposed and our movements compromised. Eyes are everywhere."
US Intelligence also intercepeted Osama Bin Ladin's reply message to Zarqawi, "It sucks to be you!"