Text 20651, 186 rader
Skriven 2006-06-08 20:42:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Iraq
============
The liberals should be celebrating this victory along with the rest of 
the American people.  Where are they ?

========================

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060608/D8I4AODO0.html

U.S. Shows Photos of Battered Al-Zarqawi
 

Jun 8, 7:00 PM (ET)

By PATRICK QUINN and KIM GAMEL
 
 

The U.S. military displayed images of the battered face of Iraq's most 
feared terrorist Thursday and Iraqis celebrated with gunfire after 
American bombs killed the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. It was a long-
sought victory for U.S. forces, but officials cautioned of violence 
ahead - and a string of blasts proved that prediction almost 
immediately.

Within minutes of the announcement of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death, 
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki named three key security ministers - 
military and political breakthroughs in rapid succession that marked the 
biggest potential turnaround in Iraq in months.

The two events may give the United States and its Iraqi allies another 
brief chance to build momentum toward stability and away from violence. 
With al-Zarqawi out of the way and the new government in place, some 
Sunni Arab leaders may be emboldened to resume a dialogue they started 
last fall - exchanges sunk by al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq.

If another effort is made, much will depend on the Iraqi government's 
ability to live up to its promises to build a political system that 
includes all groups, including disaffected Sunnis. More than a dozen 
Sunni Arab insurgent groups are believed to be operating in Iraq, and a 
few use tactics just as ruthless as al-Zarqawi's.


"This popular front and national unity is our guarantee to fighting all 
challenges," al-Maliki told a Baghdad news conference. But, he warned, 
"whenever there is a new al-Zarqawi, we will kill him."

President Bush and U.S. military leaders cautioned that the death of the 
39-year-old militant was not likely to end the bloodshed - just as the 
capture of Saddam Hussein and the killings of his two sons failed to 
dampen the insurgency. A rash of bombings that killed nearly 40 people 
in Baghdad on Thursday confirmed that assessment.

"We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continuing 
patience of the American people," Bush said.

Nevertheless, the president called the killing "a severe blow to al-
Qaida, and it is a significant victory in the war on terror."

Tips from within al-Zarqawi's own terror network helped the U.S. locate 
and bomb a safe house where the al-Qaida leader was meeting in secret 
with top associates, American military officials said. Al-Maliki told al-
Arabiya television the $25 million bounty the U.S. put on al-Zarqawi's 
head would be honored, saying "we will meet our promise."

 
Al-Zarqawi was killed at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday after an intense two-week 
hunt that U.S. officials said first led to the terror leader's spiritual 
adviser and then to him.

Loud applause broke out as al-Maliki, flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay 
Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, announced at the news conference 
that "al-Zarqawi was eliminated."

Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said the American airstrike 
targeted "an identified, isolated safe house." Four other people, 
including a woman and a child, were killed with al-Zarqawi and Abu Abdul-
Rahman al-Iraqi, the terrorist's spiritual consultant.

Al-Qaida confirmed al-Zarqawi's death in a statement and vowed to 
continue its "holy war." Curiously, the announcement was signed by al-
Iraqi, who was identified as deputy "emir" of the group, perhaps in an 
attempt to spread confusion.

Fingerprints, tattoos and scars helped U.S. troops identify al-Zarqawi's 
body, White House spokesman Tony Snow said. The military released 
pictures of al-Zarqawi's face after the airstrike, with his eyes closed 
and spots of blood, images reminiscent of photos of Saddam's dead sons.

 
Spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell also showed a videotape of the air 
assault taken by one of the F-16 fighter jets that dropped the two 500-
pound bombs, obliterating the terrorist leader's safe house five miles 
west of Baqouba.

"We had absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Zarqawi was in the house," 
Caldwell said.

U.S. and Iraqi intelligence found al-Zarqawi by following al-Iraqi, who 
was seen going into the house shortly before American jets were ordered 
into action in the skies 30 miles northeast of Baghdad.

Intelligence officials had identified al-Iraqi several weeks ago with 
help from "somebody inside the al-Zarqawi network," Caldwell said.

"Through a painstaking intelligence effort, we were able to start 
tracking him, monitor his movements and establish when he was doing his 
linkup with al-Zarqawi," he said.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Gary L. North, who commands U.S. and coalition air 
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, said al-Zarqawi's meeting in the 
house gave commanders time to gather exact coordinates and redirect the 
fighters, which were already in the air.

"We knew exactly where he was and we chose the right moment," North told 
The Associated Press.

In the final two weeks of the manhunt, Caldwell indicated U.S. and Iraqi 
forces had pinpointed the location of many other key al-Qaida figures 
but had held off for fear of spooking their boss. After al-Zarqawi was 
killed, U.S. and Iraqi forces carried out 17 raids in the Baghdad 
region, he said.

What may have partly enabled the success now after so long was 
Khalilzad's efforts to patch up relations with Sunnis.

At the same time, the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi, who was sensitive to 
U.S.-encouraged derision of a foreigner killing Iraqis, began cozying up 
to Sunni insurgents. It was probably the move that led to his undoing, 
said Ed O'Connell, a retired Air Force intelligence officer who led 
manhunts for Osama bin Laden and others in Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen.

"Once that happened, all we needed was a guy inside the insurgency to 
tell us where he was and, bam, we got him," he said.

The airstrike occurred in the village of Hibhib, which is known for 
producing anise-flavored arak, a popular alcoholic drink.

The region had seen a spike in gruesome sectarian killings in recent 
days, including the discovery of 17 severed heads in fruit boxes. Not 
far away this week, gunmen killed 21 Shiites, including a dozen 
students, after separating out four Sunni Arabs.

Al-Zarqawi was known for his extraordinary brutality as one of the 
extremist leaders in the largely Sunni Arab insurgency, earning him the 
title of "the slaughtering sheik" among his followers. He is believed to 
have wielded the huge knives used in beheading American hostages 
Nicholas Berg and Eugene Armstrong. Grisly videos of the slayings were 
posted on the Internet, part of the propaganda campaign that was key to 
al-Zarqawi's movement.

His followers were believed responsible for the deaths of thousands of 
Iraqi Shiites, mainly in a campaign of roadside bombings and suicide 
attacks.

In the past year, he moved his campaign beyond Iraq's borders, claiming 
to have carried out a triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman, 
Jordan, that killed 60 people, as well as other attacks in his homeland 
and even a rocket attack from Lebanon into Israel.

Caldwell said Egyptian-born Abu al-Masri would likely take the reins of 
al-Qaida in Iraq. He said al-Masri trained in Afghanistan and arrived in 
Iraq in 2002 to establish an al-Qaida cell.

Buoyed by his announcement of al-Zarqawi's death, al-Maliki won 
parliamentary approval for three important ministers - ending a three-
week stalemate.

The new defense minister is Army Gen. Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim al-
Mifarji, a Sunni Arab, while Shiite Jawad al-Bolani took over the 
Interior post. The new minister of state for national security, Sherwan 
al-Waili, who will advise the prime minister, also is a Shiite.

Police in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City greeted news of al-
Zarqawi's death by firing weapons into the air and chanting in elation.

But al-Zarqawi was mourned in Anbar province.

"This a great loss for all the Sunnis," 40-year-old Abid al-Duleimi 
said. "If they killed al-Zarqawi, more than one al-Zarqawi will replace 
him."

---

Associated Press writers Hamza Hendawi, Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Sinan 
Salaheddin and Qais al-Bashir in Baghdad and Katherine Shrader in 
Washington contributed to this report. 
 * Origin:  (1:226/600)