Posted on 06/09/2006 4:51:54 PM PDT by KJC1
THE vanity of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in trying to portray himself as a Rambo-style warrior was a first step towards his downfall, according to intelligence experts.
The video released in April of Zarqawi firing a machinegun -- and comically burning his hand on the hot barrel -- helped experts from Jordan pinpoint his location north of Baghdad.
But the most crucial factor was the co-operation of a source within Zarqawi's own network, which put US forces on the trail of his spiritual adviser Sheik Abd-al-Rahman.
US forces had first learned of Sheik Abd-al-Rahman in April when Jordanian intelligence officers arrested and interrogated an al-Qaida mid-level operative near the Iraqi border.
US Maj-Gen William Caldwell said that began a painstaking, six-week surveillance operation of Abd-al-Rahman which also used unmanned aerial drones.
The informer pointed them to the al-Qaida meeting attended by the sheik at the building on the outskirts of Habhib village, 8km north of the town of Baquba.
A task force, called 77 or 145, of Delta Force commandos, Navy SEALs and British special operations experts had first pinpointed the property near Baquba, 60km north of Baghdad.
The white stucco, two-storey farmhouse near a grove of palm trees was in the area where the Jordanian experts had most likely placed Zarqawi from the video.
Maj-Gen Caldwell said: "The strike did not occur in a 24-hour period.
"It was a very long, painstaking, deliberate exploitation of intelligence, information gathering, human resources, electronic signal intelligence that was done over a period of time -- many, many weeks."
But Wednesday was the first time the US was certain Abd-al-Rahman was at a hideout where it was certain Zarqawi was, which could be struck without risk of mass civilian casualties.
A local, Mohammed Ismael, said he saw three utes drive to the house late on Wednesday, but only one stayed.
By 5.30pm local time commandos from task force 145 surrounded the house, then Habhib village itself.
Mr Ismael said American soldiers began swarming the town, seemingly coming from nowhere, with some soldiers sliding down ropes dropped from Black Hawk helicopters.
"The entire village was seized," Mr Ismael said.
He said someone inside the house began shooting as the American commandos took up positions. The Americans returned fire but the fight did not last long.
Senior officers in Baghdad called in an air strike at sunset on Wednesday.
Two F-16 US Air Force Falcons circled high above and dropped two 225kg laser-guided bombs. The first flattened the house, which disintegrated into three dust clouds.
Early reports claimed Zarqawi and others had lived for about 10 minutes after Iraqi police arrived on the scene.
But when the 4th Infantry of the US 101st Airborne Assault Division arrived a few minutes later, everyone in the rubble was dead.
Six corpses were initially taken from the ruins: a woman, a child, two unidentified males, Abd-al-Rahman and finally Zarqawi. The last had green tattoos, just like Zarqawi, who was known among other terrorists as the "green man".
Within hours, the US launched 17 raids on suspect houses around Baghdad, gathering what Maj-Gen Caldwell says was a treasure trove of information.
Checks of the scars and tattoos on the body suspected to be Zarqawi were confirmed by an FBI fingerprint check.
Precisely!!!
If this was another time and place with a true Imperial power such as Rome.
Every adult male in the town would have been killed and the women and children sold into slavery.
It IS BECAUSE WE ARE A BENEVOLENT NATION that we are conducting this Iraq campaign in the first place.
A real Imperial power with our kind of weaponry would have just vaporized the Middle East after 9-11.
We are actually trying to reform and SAVE the Middle East and in the process SAVE millions of lives.
Great show today!
Something doesn't fit here. Didn't the story state the Americans engaged him first? Then it sounds like the Iraqi's were are there first?
This story explains a video someone posted of the air strike last night. Prior to the bombs away it shows a chopper buzzing around the compound...
A different slant on things here.
Yes, I'm sure most locals knew of his presence.
I don't agree with the "it would have been appropriate to level the whole town" thing. Why?
Bad publicity / relations.
That and the fact that this is all these people have ever known.
Don't get me wrong. Should this place turn out to be a "hot bed" of harboring terrorists, etc., - then I'd agree with the scorched earth policy.
Notice how the Iraqi forces were the first ones on the scene for this? Followed closely by the boys?
Why is it we are there?
Goodness, I've already done three al-Zarqawi songs already. I've done RADIO STAR three or four times.
He certainly became a porker lately compared to early photos of him...
BTTT
Do you refer to the 500 lb. bombs or the surrounding of the house by coalition SF ?
I'm guessing the 'who got there first' part was staged, no?
The 'chopper' buzzing around. Do you mean the white dot ?
I thought that was strange also, but watch the film a couple of times - it has to be a refraction / reflection with the lens.
Or a UFO.
(Pesci) Is it possible, the two "yutes"...
(Judge) Eh, two what?... What was that word?
(Pesci) Ah, what word?
(Judge) Two what?
(Pesci) What?
(Judge) Did you say "yutes"?
(Pesci) Yeah, two "yutes".
(Judge) What is a "yute"?
(Pesci) Oh, excuse me your honor, two "youths".
That's what happens when you hang out with Ted Kennedy.
That, and there's the fact that SOMEBODY gave him up. For all we know, it was the guy three houses down. There's also the fact that, if you lived next door to the Manson family or to Adolph Hitler and knew blow by blow what they had done and/or were capable of, would you confront them directly? The man was basically a psychotic mass murderer. If you were in that village, you best bet was to either lay low or inform the officials...quietly. You don't do something to attract the attention of a guy who gets his kicks by beheading basically random people.
If "the whole village was seized" prior to the airstrike, prolly more than one person told of al-Zarqawi being in that house.
Maybe Z. was that inept because he'd never done anything else but hack people's heads off.
The idiot didn't even know ya had to cock the gun to ready it to fire.While that statement is true, it was one of his co-maroons that burned his hand with the barrel.
"...The video released in April...helped experts from Jordan pinpoint his location north of Baghdad..."
I'm assuming we have geologists, mineralogists, cartographers and locals on our intelligence team.
Cool.
Insightful comment.
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