al-Zaraqwi reportedly captured in Iraq

[Reds4Life]

At this point US officials are denying it, but many wire and news services have picked up the story.

Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, whom the US occupation authorities declared to be the "target number one" in Iraq, has been arrested in the city of Baakuba, the Emirate newspaper al-Bayane reported on Tuesday referring to Kurdish sources.

Al-Zarqawi, leader of the terrorist group Al-Tawhid Wa'al-Jihad, was recently appointed the director of the Al-Qaeda organisation in Iraq.

The newspaper's correspondent in Baghdad points out that a report on the seizure of the terrorist, on whom the US put a bounty of US$10 million, was also reported by Iraqi Kurdistan radio, which at one time had been the first to announce the arrest of Saddam Hussein.


Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was captured in Iraq, said Tuesday's Al Bayan, a daily newspaper of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).[file]
There have been no official reports about the arrest of the terrorist. Al-Zarqawi, 38, a Jordanian, whose real name is Ahmad al-Khalayleh, aims to turn Iraq into a "new Afghanistan".

According to Arab press data, Al-Tawhid Wa'al-Jihad group has divided Iraq into several emirates. The group's independent subdivisions at a strength of 50 to 500 militants operate in the cities of Al-Falluja, Al-Qaim, Diala, and Samarra.

The personnel of the group is on the whole 1,500-strong and includes Iraqis and citizens of Arab and Islamic countries. There are demolition experts and missilemen among them.

The group has depots of weapons and explosives in various parts of the country. It intends to frustrate the upcoming parliamentary elections that are scheduled for the end of this month. Al-Tawhid Wa'al-Jihad threatens to do away with Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and members of the interim government.

Here is the link. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english...ent_405831.htm

Drudge is reporting the same thing, as is several arab newspapers, TV and radio stations. Hopefully it's true.

[MWM]

If true, this is a great thing.

[CbusRed]

What a relief this would be.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Cut his darn head off!

No wait, better yet... bury him alive in pig remains.

No, even better... lock him up at Gitmo. For the rest of his life. And let us hear stories from the Red Cross about his inhumane treatment. The more stories from the Red Cross about his inhumane treatment, the better.

I am still not convinced of this story. I hate to be skeptical, but who wouldn't be. I hope it is true. Please be true.

[zombie-a-go-go]

I hope it is true. Please be true.

Word.

[RedsBaron]

I hope it is true. I almost would be in favor of (1) cutting off his head and (2) then giving him a fair trial. ( I said "almost")

[GAC]

I hope it is true. I almost would be in favor of (1) cutting off his head and (2) then giving him a fair trial. ( I said "almost")

You're a lawyer after my own heart! And maybe they should televise it.

[Cedric]

I would be.

[savafan]

This would be the third time that this has been reported. I hope this time that it's true!

[Redsfaithful]

It'll certainly be a good thing when he's brought to justice.

But if anyone thinks this'll change anything in Iraq they're mistaken.

Remember when all the insurgent violence was going to stop after we caught Saddam? That worked out.

[RBA]

It'll certainly be a good thing when he's brought to justice.

But if anyone thinks this'll change anything in Iraq they're mistaken.

Remember when all the insurgent violence was going to stop after we caught Saddam? That worked out.

That's a very good point, RF. The killings will not stop anytime soon. When one of them gets taken out, there are dozens more to take their place.

Roll your eyes if you want, but that won't stop the insurgents/terrorists (or whatever word their using to describe them).

[GAC]

It'll certainly be a good thing when he's brought to justice.

But if anyone thinks this'll change anything in Iraq they're mistaken.

Remember when all the insurgent violence was going to stop after we caught Saddam? That worked out.

And yet some of you tried to make a big thing out of our failure to capture Bin Laden.

I don't think anyone has contended that capturing Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi would end the insurgency. But it sure is a victory, and a step in the right direction, if not a moral victory for our troops. If it true, we'll have to wait and see how it may have any effect on that insurgency. Time will tell.

[Redsfaithful]

And yet some of you tried to make a big thing out of our failure to capture Bin Laden.

I don't want Osama Bin Laden captured because I think it'll make Iraq a better situation. I want him captured, tried, and executed because he murdered 3,000 Americans on 9/11.

But doing so isn't going to do much when it comes to Iraq, and it probably wouldn't do much with regards to terrorism either. There's always going to be someone else to step into a leadership role.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Let me ask a military question...

... is it better to defeat an enemy by eliminating them from the bottom to the top -or- from the top to the bottom?

I'll give you the answer... the latter of the two. Have I been to West Point or anything like West Point? No. I have studied war though. I am not surprised that some would see the glass as 1/2 empty if this story were true. That is the political nature of the beast.

Leaders make decisions. Leaders know more about an entire army (theirs and their enemy), organization or felonious killing machine (this is a good description for al qaeda). Leaders provide emotional support. Their presence means a lot to those who fight under them. It is always a greta thing to nab a top-dog. For instance, some may know this story...

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Having lived and studied previously in the United States (Harvard grad), Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy was not eager to enter into war with that county. Ordered into combat by his country, Yamamoto was the most reluctant of warriors who seemed to know that it was his destiny to fight and die for his Emperor in a lost cause.

One of the great advantages that the United States enjoyed in its war with Japan was the cracking of the Japanese code. This gave the U.S. advanced warning of impending Japanese operations. One such operation was a visit by Admiral Yamamoto to the Japanese base on Bougainvillea. Allied intelligence intercepted and decoded a message describing the visit, and the 13th Air Force decided to welcome him. Even the highest ranking American military commanders felt that to give a direct order to assassinate an enemy commander was above them, and the authorization for the mission eventually came all the way down from the office of the American presidency. On April 18, 1943, one year to the day after the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, 18 American P-38s from the 13th Air Force launched from Guadalcanal, flew to Bougainvillea, found the Admiral's flight, and shot down his plane killing him.

Admiral Yamamoto’s death was a tragic blow to Japanese morale. Many commanders felt that they had lost Japan’s greatest naval strategist, a realization to which several commanders would never recover from.

[GAC]

Excellent post '66

I don't want Osama Bin Laden captured because I think it'll make Iraq a better situation. I want him captured, tried, and executed because he murdered 3,000 Americans on 9/11.

He didn't personally murder them. But the terrorist organization he fronts/heads did.

Isn't that also what Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's network/organization is doing in Iraq? How many thousands of lives (coalition forces and the innocent) has he taken?

But doing so isn't going to do much when it comes to Iraq, and it probably wouldn't do much with regards to terrorism either. There's always going to be someone else to step into a leadership role.

You don't know that it's not gonna be effective in putting a hurt on the insurgency. Any time you can capture/take out a terrorist leader you have to do it. It sure doesn't hurt the situation.

You start wiping out the leadership, and sooner or later the soldiers will get demoralized and scatter.

You are damaging their organizational structure and chain of command. Sure someone else may step in. But are they gonna be as effective, and provide the leadership that is desperately needed? You're forcing "utility" players to now take on the role of leadership.

If we had lost some of our generals during WW2, such as Ike, Patton, Clark, McArthur, do you think it could have set us back and hurt our cause?

Any time you lose an instrumental leader it helps your cause while setting the opposition back.