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Iraq-Jordan
Fighting resumes around Najaf shrine
2004-08-22
Posted by:Fred

#10  Zarqawi has ties to cells in Europe.Fred may be right.
Posted by: crazyhorse   2004-08-22 10:40:54 AM  

#9  A. I'm not Fred, but in response to #2's question
where is Zarqawi and why haven't we heard anything about him lately? No big bombs, some disruption of oil production, but overall, he's kinda off the map right now. Should we be worried?

Here's the dish from OBL's body guard, for what it's worth. The good news is that Zarqawi is not a major player in Iraq these days. The bad news is that Iraq has enough of its own "resistence" leaders to do damage to our GI's.
Al-Qa'ida Activity in Iraq and Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarkawi

"A large number of Al-Qa'ida operatives have entered Iraq and they are currently fighting in the ranks of the Iraqi resistance… The problem is that today Al-Qa'ida is not an organization in the true sense of the word but only an idea that has become a faith.

"Many among the youth have begun to believe in Al-Qa'ida's views and beliefs regarding the struggle against America. Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarkawi was in Afghanistan and in Kabul. He met with Osama bin Laden a great many times, but I do not believe that he is number one in the Al-Qa'ida organization, since Al-Qa'ida has Iraqi leaders present on the ground in Iraq and they are not in need of Al-Zarkawi."

http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD76704

B. In reply to #4's question:
I echo your wonder regards Zarqi's whereabouts.

My guess is that Zarqawi is probably co-ordinating the next AQ to be staged in our backyard:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-terror-latin-america,0,4982342.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines
"Al-Qaida Said to Recruit in Latin America" 8/22/04 article originally posted yesterday and "lost" to readers
...In South America, U.S. officials have long suspected Paraguay’s border with Brazil and Argentina as an area for Islamic terrorist fund-raising. Much of the focus has fallen on the Muslim community that sprouted during the 1970s, and authorities believe as much as $100 million a year flows out of the region, with large portions diverted to Islamic militants linked to Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The more immediate concern is Mexico, which shares a porous, 2,000-mile border with the United States and is the home to widespread organized crime.

In December, Mexican officials canceled two Aeromexico flights from Mexico City to Los Angeles, and a third was forced to turn around after takeoff because of terrorism concerns.

At the time, the United States, Canada and Interpol told Mexico that officials suspected terrorists might be using Mexican soil to plan an attack, Vasconcelos said...


Posted by: rex   2004-08-22 6:54:44 AM  

#8  During the hot afternoon, no weapons were visible as several hundred men, along with several women and at least one child, slept or cleaned inside the mosque courtyard in preparation to turn over control to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Doesn't look like they did all that well in the recruiting human shields department.
Posted by: B   2004-08-22 6:10:53 AM  

#7  "An al-Sadr aide denied there were any weapons inside the mosque, insisting they would never bring them inside because that would be against Islam."

Lie to the apostates and infidels. Tater has chapter and verse in the manual giving him permission to do so.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2004-08-22 2:17:59 AM  

#6  Fred, please elaborate!
You're such a tease... in an apocalyptic kinda way!
Posted by: GreatestJeneration   2004-08-22 1:48:37 AM  

#5  "An al-Sadr aide denied there were any weapons inside the mosque, insisting they would never bring them inside because that would be against Islam."

To paraphrase someone (Heinlein?), these people use logic the way some folks use crack.
Posted by: SteveS   2004-08-22 1:48:18 AM  

#4  And the oil pipeline bombs are in the South and attributed to Tater's Tots-in-waiting - on the Mad Mullah payroll, but not serving with the Great One.

I echo your wonder regards Zarqi's whereabouts. I guess he 'n Tater decided to coordinate on headlines.

Fred - the hash has been re-hashed so many times it's starting to look like mess hall chow...
Posted by: .com   2004-08-22 1:36:10 AM  

#3  He's probably in Iran, planning the next campaign. He may even be waiting to see how Tater makes out.

The question is whether the next campaign is in Iraq, or if it's in Europe. I suspect it might be in Europe.
Posted by: Fred   2004-08-22 1:34:34 AM  

#2  Totally Somewhat off topic...where is Zarqawi and why haven't we heard anything about him lately? No big bombs, some disruption of oil production, but overall, he's kinda off the map right now. Should we be worried?
Posted by: Seafarious   2004-08-22 1:30:46 AM  

#1  Coulda written that headline myself, without even looking...
Posted by: Fred   2004-08-22 1:21:40 AM  

00:00