Article

2006-04-10 Iraq

WP sez US "villainizing" Zarqawi in Iraq

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Posted by Dan Darling 2006-04-10 02:27|| || Front Page|| [7 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Dan asked: "How the hell do you "villainize" a man who decapitates people in his spare time?"

Well, it's right in the source documents: "Villainize Zarqawi/leverage xenophobia response," one U.S. military briefing from 2004 stated.

While al Qaeda's been a useful source of meat, the main force beind the Iraqi insurgency has been... Iraqis. Specifically, local baathists.

Posted by Rory B. Bellows 2006-04-10 04:19|| 2006-04-10 04:19|| Front Page Top

#2 My god. I'm stunned by this! I guess he's just misunderstood eh - a misguided criminal. Sheesh i've heard it all now. Next up 'How Hitler was Unfairly Treated'.

Posted by ShepUK 2006-04-10 04:37|| 2006-04-10 04:37|| Front Page Top

#3 Right up there with the Holocaust Deniers, this twerp.

Posted by Rivrdog">Rivrdog 2006-04-10 05:35|| http://rivrdog.typepad.com]">[http://rivrdog.typepad.com] 2006-04-10 05:35|| Front Page Top

#4 How the hell do you "villainize" a man who decapitates people in his spare time?

Good question. But here's another one: how the hell are we supposed to win this war-- or any war, for that matter-- with the media churning out an endless torrent of anti-American propaganda?

Posted by Dave D.">Dave D. 2006-04-10 05:52|| 2006-04-10 05:52|| Front Page Top

#5 And here I thought Zarqawi villainized Zarqawi ...

Posted by doc 2006-04-10 06:39|| 2006-04-10 06:39|| Front Page Top

#6 Zarqawi is good man he fights for those who came in iraq by force and without justice Zarqawi has a right to fight them

Posted by Crenter Gloper8610 2006-04-10 07:24|| 2006-04-10 07:24|| Front Page Top

#7 Rofl, yeah what a great man he came to fight for the Iraqis and hes done nothing but blow them up, yay, what a fckin hero! All whilst ignoring the fact he isn't even an Iraqi! whos interfering now eh troll?

Posted by ShepUK 2006-04-10 07:39|| 2006-04-10 07:39|| Front Page Top

#8 But Zarquawi is a gay jordanian blowing up Iraqis.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2006-04-10 07:41|| 2006-04-10 07:41|| Front Page Top

#9 Besides when this whole middle eastern conflict goes thermonuclear the likes of Zarq will cease to be of any concern to anyone. Rofl. Much bigger fish to fry next door and all this talk of Zarq and his fellow clowns will cease to be relevent.

Posted by ShepUK 2006-04-10 07:43|| 2006-04-10 07:43|| Front Page Top

#10 other sections of the briefings indicate that there were direct military efforts to use the U.S. media to affect views of the war. One slide in the same briefing, for example, noted that a "selective leak" about Zarqawi was made to Dexter Filkins, a New York Times reporter based in Baghdad. Filkins's resulting article, about a letter supposedly written by Zarqawi and boasting of suicide attacks in Iraq, ran on the Times front page on Feb. 9, 2004.

Leaks to reporters from U.S. officials in Iraq are common, but official evidence of a propaganda operation using an American reporter is rare

It's a good thing those noble reporters are far too smart to ever act as the American military's propaganda tools...

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2006-04-10 07:49|| 2006-04-10 07:49|| Front Page Top

#11 How much more pathetic can you get, seeking internal scapegoats even at a stage when the external enemies are as plain to see as your country's impotency and/or unwillingness to fight them?

I'll resist the temptation to go on a major rant at this comment and restrict myself to noting that whenever the Left doesn't want to address an issue, it (specifically you) change the subject and throw out a statement so vague and filled with non-specific innuedos that no one can criticise it.

So, Aris, what exactly are the threats and what do you propose be done about it?

Otherwise, (since .com is not around) it's just your personal wankfest.

Posted by phil_b">phil_b 2006-04-10 07:54|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/] 2006-04-10 07:54|| Front Page Top

#12 Zarqi doesn't need our help,he is doing just fine on his own.

Posted by raptor 2006-04-10 07:54|| 2006-04-10 07:54|| Front Page Top

#13 Zarqawi SHOULD be focused on, because his work with Ansar al-Islam, sponsored by Saddam, was a serious threat to the West before we ever went into Iraq.

Google "ricin" and "apartment" .... reports were that the specific formula of ricin found in both Paris and London was characteristic of that produced by Saddam's mukhabarat -- and the cookbooks for it were found when US special ops guys and the peshmerga overran the Ansar camps early in the war.

That's one small detail among many that make the case that the tie between Saddam's regime, al Qaeda and planned terror actions is stronger than some would like to admit.

Posted by lotp 2006-04-10 08:14|| 2006-04-10 08:14|| Front Page Top

#14 There has been a running argument among specialists in Iraq about how much significance to assign to Zarqawi, who spent seven years in prison in Jordan for attempting to overthrow the government there. After his release he spent time in Pakistan and Afghanistan before moving his base of operations to Iraq.

Hmmm. The timeline here seems to be lacking something here. WHICH years did he spend in jug in Jordan, HOW MUCH time did he spend in Pakland/Afghanland, WHEN did he travel to Iraq and WHY?

Oh, I'm sorry, this story is about the military manipulating the gullible if well-meaning press corps.

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2006-04-10 08:16|| 2006-04-10 08:16|| Front Page Top

#15 since .com is not around

Sorry if this is old news, but what's the backstory on that?

Posted by docob 2006-04-10 09:21|| 2006-04-10 09:21|| Front Page Top

#16 WP sez US "villainizing" Zarqawi in Iraq

Presenter: Another man who had his head decapitated was Stig O' Tracy.

Interviewer: I've been told Abu Musab al-Zarqawi decapitated you.

Stig: No. Never. He was a smashing bloke. He used to buy his mother flowers and that. He was like a brother to me.

Interviewer: But the police have film of Zarqawi cutting off your head.

Stig: (pause) Oh yeah, he did that.

Interviewer: Why?

Stig: Well he had to, didn't he? I mean there was nothing else he could do, be fair. I had transgressed the unwritten sura.

Interviewer: What had you done?

Stig: Er... well he didn't tell me that, but he gave me his word that it was the case, and that's good enough for me with old Zarqi. I mean, he didn't want to cut my head off. I had to insist. He wanted to let me off. He'd do anything for you, Zarqawi would.

Interviewer: And you don't bear him a grudge?

Stig: A grudge! Old Zarqi? He's a real darling.

"The long-term threat is not Zarqawi or religious extremists, but these former regime types and their friends," said Harvey, who did not return phone calls seeking comment on his remarks.

Ummmm ... No. Religious extremists constitute the major threat in both Iraq (Zarq isn't fomenting that civil war all by his little ol' self) and the Global War on Terrorism. Yet another terminal case of rectal-cranial insertion.

Posted by Zenster 2006-04-10 10:37|| 2006-04-10 10:37|| Front Page Top

#17 LOL!

I just saw a giant hedgehog looming over the Bagdad skyline....

Posted by Secret Master 2006-04-10 10:45|| 2006-04-10 10:45|| Front Page Top

#18 Thanks to Zenster -- I just saw that Monty Python skit the other evening! And truth be told, that skit, and many others, are right on target and are as true today as they were 30 years ago. MP understood media and manipulation as well as anyone.

Posted by Perfesser 2006-04-10 11:01|| 2006-04-10 11:01|| Front Page Top

#19 I found a trace of unintended (I'm sure) humor in Ricks' article. This foolish author believes there needs to be a concerted effort to "turn Iraqis against Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."

Even a novice knows that Zarqawi is viewed as an evil cockroach by Iraqis.

It seems the only one who needs to be convinced of Zarqawi's evil is the author.

Posted by Captain America 2006-04-10 11:11|| 2006-04-10 11:11|| Front Page Top

#20 And yo! moderators, why am I unbanned again? I won't get any *less* obnoxious, I promise you that.

Makes one wonder why he keeps checking to see if he can slip through. What emptiness.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-04-10 11:12|| 2006-04-10 11:12|| Front Page Top

#21 We are not "seeking internal scapegoats", Aris. We are seeking to not be undermined by our own people and to not to be undermined by "news" media that are far less than objective than they should be. Much of the media seems to have lost the distinction between "reporting" and "editorializing", perhaps because editors are more interested in wielding political influence than in doing the "Journalism 101" part of their jobs. If journalism was a licensed profession that was regulated the way law and medicine and engineering and even hair styling are regulated, then many of these editors would lose their licenses.

Posted by Darrell 2006-04-10 11:23|| 2006-04-10 11:23|| Front Page Top

#22 Finally, *finally* demand that Sadr is declared a terrorist outlaw on par with Zarqawi or stop supporting with your troops a villainous Shiite leadership that keeps such a murderer in its pocket as a useful reserve. They must either abandon him or you must abandon *them* to their fate. Have them choose.

Hard to argue with that part, Aris. Many around here have been saying the same thing for quite some time, myself included.

Posted by Zenster 2006-04-10 11:32|| 2006-04-10 11:32|| Front Page Top

#23 Perhaps the Moderators could clarify. Was Aris one of those who were improperly "stealth banned" by that hacker, along with .com and Mrs. Davis?

Posted by Zenster 2006-04-10 11:35|| 2006-04-10 11:35|| Front Page Top

#24 Mrs. Davis never did anything (much) to warrant a stealth banning and I doubt it happened. She probably found Mr. Davis and they're getting it on.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-04-10 13:12|| 2006-04-10 13:12|| Front Page Top

#25 Fred's the only one with keys to the troll cabinet. Us mods can toss trolls in but can't fish 'em out. Any un-bannings are strictly at the site owner's discretion.

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2006-04-10 13:29|| 2006-04-10 13:29|| Front Page Top

#26 Thats what I call Rantburg dedication. "Getting it on" and attempting Rantburg bedside access.

Posted by Besoeker 2006-04-10 13:35|| 2006-04-10 13:35|| Front Page Top

#27 How can one Villanize a Villian?

There a damn Villian. /rant

Posted by 3dc 2006-04-10 13:39|| 2006-04-10 13:39|| Front Page Top

#28 Villainizing a Villain is Villain². This is getting too convoluted for me. Zark, as well as Tater need to go, and the rest is mega minutae.

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2006-04-10 16:40|| 2006-04-10 16:40|| Front Page Top

#29 Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]

Posted by Aris Katsaris 2006-04-10 07:20|| 2006-04-10 07:20|| Front Page Top

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