Pretty effective.
| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| How Zarqawi was found and killed |
| 2006-06-08 |
| A man described as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's "spiritual adviser" inadvertently led US forces to the spot where the militant leader was finally located and killed, the US military says. Major General William Caldwell said the operation to track down the most wanted man in Iraq was carried out over many weeks, before two US air force F-16s killed him with a bombing raid on a house in a village north of Baghdad. "The strike last night did not occur in a 24-hour period. It truly was a very long, painstaking deliberate exploitation of intelligence, information gathering, human sources, electronic, signal intelligence that was done over a period of time - many, many weeks," he said. He said a tip from someone in Zarqawi's network put US forces on the trail of Sheikh Abd-al-Rahman, the militant's "spiritual adviser". He would not say when they received this tip, but said they had clear evidence about a month-and-a-half ago that began the process that led them to identify the safe house where Zarqawi was eventually killed. Gen Caldwell said Wednesday night was the first time US forces had "definite unquestionable information" they could strike the target without causing collateral damage to civilians. "We had absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Zarqawi was in the house," he said. "We knew from having watched the movements of Abd-al-Rahman that he was there too." Once the target had been identified, two F-16 jets were dispatched towards the small house in a palm grove 8km (five miles) north of the town of Baquba. The lead aircraft dropped a 500lb bomb, and then the aircraft returned for a second run, with the second jet dropping another similar bomb. "Following this strike Iraqi security forces, specifically Iraqi police, responded to that location, they were the first ones to arrive on the scene," Gen Caldwell said. They were followed "very shortly thereafter " by US ground forces, who "swept through the site and identified six persons that had been killed in that strike at that time". The dead included a woman and a child, and two others still to be identified. Zarqawi's body was taken a secure location. "By visual identification it was established that that probably was him, but they... did further examination of his body, found more scars and tattoos consistent with what had been reported which we knew about him. "They then did fingerprint identification and that came back at about 0330 this morning as positively identified as Zarqawi having been killed." DNA analysis could be completed within 48 hours. Zarqawi's death allowed coalition forces to go after his network - those people who had been used to establish his movements, patterns and habits, Gen Caldwell said. Coalition and Iraqi forces moved quickly, conducting 17 simultaneous raids in and around Baghdad within hours of Zarqawi's death. "And in those 17 raids last night a tremendous amount of information and intelligence was collected. It is presently being exploited and utilised for further use. I mean it was a treasure trove, no question," the general said. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #33 Next picture you see of his Spiritual Advisor will be taken in an "Undisclosed Location", with Ed McMahon (is he still alive?) handing him one of those oversize "Lotto Winner" checks -the $25mil reward for kill/capture of Zarqawi. Bwahaha! |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-06-08 23:06 |
| #32 Might not be hearing much from Tator for a while. Resale on rural safe houses may fall into a bit of a slump as well. As US taxpayers we can all share in the pride of our tax dollars used to purchase those 500 pounders. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-06-08 22:09 |
| #31 Yes the trail of camel shit *flavored* condoms and a line of empty Allah's Swine Sperm Beer bottles led the troops right to him. |
| Posted by: porKoranimals 2006-06-08 22:03 |
| #30 Where does Tater go for spiritual guidance? To Hell? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-06-08 20:54 |
| #29 I can only hope Tater is NEXT! -M |
| Posted by: Manolo 2006-06-08 20:40 |
| #28 Where does Tater go for spiritual guidance? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-06-08 20:33 |
| #27 hee hee Dar! But this shit is serious, let it go ed. There are no apache trackers, there is no White Mountain, Cochise is ded. Say something like an old Apache tracked Zman's New Balance sneaker prints. Like I said, there are no Apache trackers, sniffing the ground like a kangaroo rat, none, gone, been gone for years. None, zilch no Apache trackers left. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-06-08 20:32 |
| #26 When you're on the lamb, you can't afford to knock up your camel. Camel condoms have two distinct reservoirs. Not your common dromedaries. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-06-08 20:18 |
| #25 Fox News reported Zarqawi was caught in part as the result of information from a "surprising source." Two other major events occurred within a few hours of getting Zarq - was one or both somehow part of a 'deal'? 1) US seems to have 'blinked' and backed off the pressure on Iran regarding its nuclear activities. 2) Iraq's political powers reached an acceptable selection of the rest of the ministers. Did some Sunni sell Z for the ministry slot and/or some Shia sell him for concessions to Iran? It all just seems like more than coincidence. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-06-08 19:24 |
| #24 A man described as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's "spiritual adviser" inadvertently led US forces to the spot where the militant leader was finally located and killed I'ma tellin' yez, dem Holy men ain't nuttin' but trouble! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-06-08 18:29 |
| #23 Zarqawi's last words: "Wait a minute, this isn't my cell ph__" |
| Posted by: mrp 2006-06-08 18:00 |
| #22 I never even thought they were using condoms on the camels. |
| Posted by: The one that never lies 2006-06-08 17:45 |
| #21 porKoranimals: Did you say camel shit *flavored* condoms? |
| Posted by: Iblis 2006-06-08 17:38 |
| #20 A spiritual adviser at hand gives you a +3 bonus on all saving throws vs. JDAMs, but when you roll a 1 you automatically fail regardless! |
| Posted by: Dar 2006-06-08 17:28 |
| #19 "Spiritual advisor" to Zark puts him just below demons on the evil scale, but without any supernatural powers. I don't know if it's been mentioned on any other threads, but I got a kick out of one of Gen. Caldwell's responses: a reporter mentioned that the Pres. had said that special forces were involved in the operation, but that Gen. Caldwell hadn't mentioned them. To which Caldwell said, (quoting from memory) "If the President of the United States said special forces were involved, special forces were involved." |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2006-06-08 16:43 |
| #18 I'm puzzled. Why would a soulless man need a spiritual advisor? |
| Posted by: GK 2006-06-08 16:41 |
| #17 Yeah, not-so-safe house. |
| Posted by: Shains Pholuger1867 2006-06-08 16:20 |
| #16 "the safe house where Zarqawi was eventually killed" I love that turn of phrase. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-06-08 16:05 |
| #15 I love it. his "spiritual advisor" sure did advise right to hell. |
| Posted by: Shains Pholuger1867 2006-06-08 16:03 |
| #14 its been in the news that internet was being monitored for YEARS now. Yet they continued to use it. They dont really have much choice, not that many ways to communicate. Theyve tried messengers, but you can follow messengers. Remember, in WW2 it was no secret we were trying to break German and Jap codes. What WAS a secret was how good we were at it, and just which codes had been broken, and when. As long as the technical details arent given out, theres no harm in giving out broad items. And in fact it may be necessary now, to confirm that this was a win. There are some spinning now, that Zarq was betrayed from within his org, and this is taken as proof that his death is actually GOOD for the terrorists. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-06-08 15:49 |
| #13 1. Do you believe Zarqawi was traced through Rahman? 2. Do you believe remaining terrorists will be more careful meeting associates/imams/supporters? 3. Do you think AQ stopped using satphones when info was disclosed that the NSA was tracking them? 4. Same for cell phones? 5. Do you believe future homegrown terrorists will be more careful with the disclosure that much of Canadian terrorists internet comms were intercepted? |
| Posted by: ed 2006-06-08 15:37 |
| #12 It's all a smoke screen. They simply followed the trail of camel schit covered condoms. |
| Posted by: porKoranimals 2006-06-08 15:32 |
| #11 So Zahman is still alive? Wonder for how long? I'm sure that lotp and Nimble are right on the button - any information released is going to be designed to increase our effectiveness and make things really hard for the shit-heads... This 'treasure trove' is going to be really interesting ;) |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2006-06-08 15:29 |
| #10 "#6 I wish the military would not release info on HOW they tracked Zarqawi. The more info released, they harder it will be to track future targets. Say something like an old Apache tracked Zman's New Balance sneaker prints." How do you know that we are getting the straight story? Could be the "spiritual advisor" turned him in and escaped into witness protection and his long awaited sex change operation after his 'fake' death. Its good to let the bad guys think death can come at any time no matter what their security. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2006-06-08 15:28 |
| #9 Pretty effective. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-06-08 15:10 |
| #8 Not to mention, how do you know what was released to the media was in fact the info used to catch Z-man? Mind games all around. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-06-08 14:44 |
| #7 Releasing this info is designed, among other things, to make other members of the terror network very nervous. Nervous about what we might know, nervous about who might rat on them. Nervous people make mistakes and get caught or killed. That gives us more info which we exploit then release .... |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-06-08 14:33 |
| #6 I wish the military would not release info on HOW they tracked Zarqawi. The more info released, they harder it will be to track future targets. Say something like an old Apache tracked Zman's New Balance sneaker prints. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-06-08 14:30 |
| #5 According to Diane Sawyer this am, they also identified him 'cos he was wearing the same clothes he wore in the video, the li'l stinker. Ims sure his demon friends in hell won't mind a little more stank! |
| Posted by: RD 2006-06-08 14:24 |
| #4 According to Diane Sawyer this am, they also identified him 'cos he was wearing the same clothes he wore in the video, the li'l stinker. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-06-08 14:18 |
| #3 Let's be clear, here...Rahman was the holy man who provided Allan's okeydoke before Zark started sawing off the heads... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-06-08 14:12 |
| #2 I can't wait for the movie....ha ha ha ha ha. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-06-08 13:49 |
| #1 "And in those 17 raids last night a tremendous amount of information and intelligence was collected. It is presently being exploited and utilised for further use. I mean it was a treasure trove, no question," You ain't seen nothin yet? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-06-08 13:48 |