Berg, the bounty and Abu Musab

Allow me to offer a few more thoughts on the timely demise of al-Qaeda in Iraq's "Sheikh of Slaughter".

On the reaction of Nick Berg’s father:

It's impossible to comprehend a parent's grief over the loss of a child unless you've been there yourself, especially after what happened to Nick Berg. In most circumstances Mr. Berg's reaction to today's news would be taken in context with that grief, however he is now a candidate for public office. His opinions and comments cannot be ignored, since presumably they represent the backbone of his position.

And that position sounds very much like the basic anti-war boilerplate, similar to what we recently heard from the Fort Lewis refuser. He clearly does not blame Zarqawi for the death of his son, matter fact his opinion puts him more in the freedom fighter category:

..so that Zarqawi had a need to get in, to defend his region of the country from American invaders."

My refutation would be as follows. Conventional accounts had Abu Musab fighting in Afghanistan with the Taliban in 2001, which is the only location on earth where the liberals think we should be fighting the WoT.

He indeed returned to "his region", but unlike Mr. Berg's assertion there was nothing to defend it against. The Iraq invasion was a year away and his home country of Jordan was under no threat of attack. On the contrary, he was charged in absentia by Jordan for ordering the death of American diplomat Laurence Foley, then hooked up with Ansar al-Islam.

Since those three items alone would more than qualify him as an enemy of the state to most folks, I'm blaming Mr. Berg's comments and campaign on his prolonged grief. He's got plenty of company.

On the bounty:

Head man al-Maliki was asked about the 25 million reward, in which he replied:

"We will meet our promise," he said without elaborating.

And to whom will that obligation be kept? Well,

.. the tips leading to the safe house had come from within Zarqawi's network.

Sounds almost like they're saying the 25 million might end up in the pockets of people “within Zarqawi’s network”. Surely not.

On Zarqawi's importance:

It’s been widely rumored for nearly a year that Z-man had been in the terrorist dog house, mainly after the idiotic attack in Amman. Recently we were told of a demotion:

It also comes in the wake of reports that Zarqawi has been demoted within the Shura Council, losing his policymaking prerogatives; yet he was content to use their logo and trademarks in his video.

Shortly thereafter we saw the machine gun video, then were later treated to the outtakes version. Hard to imagine that sat too well with the Shura council or Bin Laden's cave committee.

One possibility is that the Shura council deliberately ratted him out due to his plummeting publicity value and thought they might clandestinely take the reward in the process. However, that would seem a big gamble since the money would likely be traced back to them in some fashion.

Another possibility is that his network had been infiltrated by Shiite militia members who turned him in for the money, revenge and to pave the way for a Tehran-favored government.

And of course conventional wisdom is still in play--ie, he was the leading figure of the insurgency in Mesopotamia and worth every penny of the 25 million.

Whatever the case such questions cannot diminish the work of the men and women, most likely from Task Force 145, who’ve been hunting this scumbag down for three years. They all deserve medals, because in the end despite any idle speculation there are certain facts beyond reproach--he was a murderer in the true sense of phrase ‘in cold blood’, and was a warrior against freedom and decent civilization. Now he’s dead.

Final final thought—a lot of folks are going to dump Blogger after the past two days. Hey, you still can’t beat the price..


RANDOM REACTION 6/9/06








The Weekly Standard's Dan Darling:

Yet according to the text of a Senate Select Intelligence Committee report, imprisoned al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah "indicated that he had heard that an important al-Qaida associate, Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi . . . had good relationships with Iraqi intelligence."

Shiite leader of the SCIRI Abdel Aziz al-Hakim:

In a rare interview, Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the president of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said that now that Zarqawi is dead the government's next priority must be to rid the country of supporters of Saddam Hussein and former members of Saddam's Baath party. He singled out specifically the Defense Ministry, the largest ministry led by a Sunni.

An Iraqi Shiite, Sheikh Abdallah Kadhim:

"I am happy and joyful as I was on the day my son was married...This is a blow to the insurgents and infidels who were backing Zarqawi at the expense of the Iraqi people."

And...an Iraqi Sunni, Munther Obeidi:

"We have thousands of Zarqawis on the streets. We need to get rid of all of them. This news about his death is an American game to keep people busy and not think of the crimes they [US forces] did in Haditha."

Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar:

"Zarqawi's martyrdom will not weaken the resistance movement in Iraq. Many, many more young men can become Zarqawi," Omar said. "The successors . . . can be even stronger than him."

Cindy Sheehan:

“I have been on the road traveling and have not read much about it, but I doubt if it will make a difference in the direction of the war,’’ she said

Emmanuel III Delly, Patriarch of the Caldean Catholic Church in Iraq:

“This is a great hope for the end of violence which torments,” the Archbishop said. “but we repeat that the best solution is always in dialogue and not in killing. Killing each other for personal reasons can not bring anything good,” Delly continued, “loving each other and not killing - this is the way to keep in mind.”

[Ed--seems the Islamic faith would do well to use the "L" word (no, not that one) more often.]

Moath Muhammad, 10, of Zarqawi's hometown:

"We will seek revenge for Abu Musab Zarqawi and we will continue on the same path that was laid out by our brother Osama bin Laden,"

(Leave it to the Times to dig up this kid).

President Bush:

Now Zarqawi has met his end, and this violent man will never murder again.

Indeed he won't.

And finally...Zarqawi himself, stunned, seconds from death and on the gurney, looking up and seeing US troops standing over him:

sahkl lah ahsjishl, hddakbarbfdkgfg!!!

I'll translate, "help, save me, I've been hit.."

LAST WORD 6/10/06

Leave it to the MSM to gin up a controversy with Zarqawi's death:

"When the Americans arrived they took him out of the ambulance, they beat him on his stomach and wrapped his head with his dishdasha, then they stomped on his stomach and his chest until he died and blood came out of his nose," Mohammed said, without saying how he knew the man was dead.

Now, I suppose it's technically unethical for troops to yank this slug out out an ambulance and kick the crap out of him. But considering we're supposed to be at war, and that we'd just dropped two 500 pound bombs on his head in an effort to dismember him, it hardly seems an issue. By the way, since he survived and nobody else did it's sounds like he might have been warned at the last second and ran to a shelter.

But the left and their unwitting allies in the Sunni/Saddamist sect will probably try to link this with Haditha. As for me, I'm proud of the troops. Zarqawi didn't warrant a trial. After all, Nick Berg didn't get one.

Oh, need to amend the tranlation of Zarqawi's last words. Change it to, "oh shii...."

via Gateway Pundit.