Jun 08 2006
Yep, We Were On Zarqawi For Weeks
As I had predicted, the round up of Zarqawi top aides over the last few weeks was like a trail of bread crumbs to the ultimate goal:
U.S. and Iraqi forces zeroed in on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi over the past two weeks, tracking his movements and missing him at least once with an attempted strike. In the end, the terror leader’s spiritual adviser led them to his doorstep and the button was pressed on an air strike that killed them both, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday.
…
Intelligence officials identified al-Iraqi with the help of an insider in al-Zarqawi’s network and began tracking his movements, watching when he would meet with his boss.
“Last night, he made a link-up (with al-Zarqawi) again at 6:15, at which time a decision was made to go ahead and strike that target and eliminate both of them,” Caldwell told a news conference in Baghdad.
…
Raids by Iraqi and U.S. units on insurgent strongholds southwest of Baghdad in the past six weeks also uncovered evidence that pointed to al-Zarqawi’s whereabouts, Col. Todd Ebel, commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, said. They showed he had been moving through the area to co-ordinate attacks in Baghdad, he said.
Too many details to copy over. Just read the whole thing. My posts predicting the tightening noose are here, here, here, here, here and here.
This is beautiful … from Counterterrism Blog:
I think the military intelligence on this was terrific. I saw the bomb strikes video’s today and they were great. Don’t believe there were any survivors in that. I personally hope they roast in hell.
AJ,
I remember your sense that we were closing in. Good analysis.
I will be interested in seeing what tomorrow’s Bush approval numbers look like at Rasmussen. They poll daily. Todays number dropped two points but that data was taken yesterday before Zarqawi had his date with a pair of 500lbs mammas. Keep an eye on the numbers here over the next several days. As the impact (no pun intended) of last night’s news seeps into people’s opinion factoring and as further exploitations of information result in an increase in arrests and a further rolling up of the al Qaeda network in Iraq, I expect Bush’s numbers to rise. Time after time Iraq has been stated as the number one issue on the president’s approval numbers being low. The Democrats have been trying to capitalize on those low numbers in their PR. With rising approval numbers, they are going to be left with no issues at all.
This is why it is so important to supporters of the Democratic party that Zarqawi’s death be portrayed as “no big deal”. They are in desparate need of continued low poll numbers for Bush as it is the only thing they have to hold onto in their campaigns. They are still running a “anyone but Bush” campaign even though Bush isn’t running.
For Enforcement:
From an “exclusive to Fox & Friends” about an hour or so ago, from a military spokesman:
There was one survivor who lasted just long enough for Allah to give him a little pimp-slap as a send-off: The Iraqi forces, who went in first, found Zarquwi still alive and conscious. They had him on a gurney or makeshift stretcher when the US guys came in.
Zarquwi opened his eyes and saw our guys, made an effort to roll off the stretcher. His last conscious awareness was of US and Iraqi forces, together, taking him down.
An excellent commentary on the leadup to Zarqawi demise is located at
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/06/the_demise_of_abu_musab_alzarq.php
Highly recommended for a good read.
MerryJ1,
That is such a juicy detail. Thanks.
President Maliki said yesterday that two of the terrorist associates of Zarqawi that were killed in the bombing were 2 women. They were intelligence gathererers for the terrorist network!
AJ,
Thanks for tracking our military’s efforts to get Zarqawi in many of your recent posts. Your loyal readers were not so surprised that the end came sooner, not later, for Zarqawi.
Scott Ott of Scrappleface hits it on the nail.
http://www.scrappleface.com/wp-print.php?p=2278
You were right on target, AJ. Good call.