News reports continue to talk of Iraqi "assistance" in locating Zarqawi, am I the only who finds this "assistance" suspicious?

I'm beginning to think that Zawahiri and bin Laden may have facilitated Zarqawi's demise.

Posted by: Greg at June 8, 2006 11:48 AM

It is times like this that I sometimes wish I was not an atheist so I could take more comfort in knowing that he is now burning in Hell with his 7 good buddies annihilated along with him. On the other hand, since I am not Christian, I also have no qualms about rejoicing with glee in this horrible man's demise. A toast to this man's death, and may Bin Laden follow very soon -- and hopefully much more painfully.

Posted by: big7625 at June 8, 2006 11:52 AM

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy...Bush: "Tough days ahead", is probably right. Someone will take Zarqawi's place. He's now a martyr in the eye's of his brother's, and they will most likely commit more atrocities in his name.

Posted by: duh_swami at June 8, 2006 12:00 PM

This MEMRI clip of a Zarqawi television interview is interesting

http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1118

Posted by: Benjamin at June 8, 2006 12:06 PM

Oh, speaking of videos, I'd like to reiterate my suggestion to Robert and Hugh: Please give us some videos of you similar to Michelle Malkin's 'Vent'. (Granted you're not as cute...)

Posted by: Benjamin at June 8, 2006 12:07 PM

Qur’an:33:22 “Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah and have gone out for Jihad (holy fighting). Some have completed their vow to extreme and have been martyred fighting and dying in His Cause, and some are waiting, prepared for death in battle.” .........( It was a major battle won...But the War will go on..many more will die in the name of Allah....Because even today many will not admit the enemy has a name and it is Islam....Its a crime really....because if the enemy was named many more could join the fight...We would have a better chance at winning..But the Powers that be would rather keep the American people in the dark.....Looking back thru history I often wonder what would America look like today if FDR had fought WW2 the way we fight the War on Terror...Not naming the enemy...Calling the Nazis peaceful...Noble....Sounds insane right?...Read the Koran...Calling Islam Peace....Thats Insane!

Posted by: storagemanager at June 8, 2006 12:11 PM

oh the drive by leftist media are going so low they got MrBerg to say he did not want his son's murderur killed, l guess he is the ultimate dhimmi.
yes poor CNN, BBC, cannot rejoice with the rest of us, and give credit the American military.

Posted by: Lulu at June 8, 2006 12:13 PM

Dear Robert:

This is an examplary JW post. Back to basics. Lately the cynical mud has been troweled on too thickly at this site. These bricks must be laid more methodically or they won't make a wall.

XXX OOO
jsla

Posted by: jsla at June 8, 2006 12:14 PM

The ruling Palestinian faction Hamas on Thursday deplored the killing by US warplanes of the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, describing him as a casualty of a crusade against Arabs and Muslims. In a statement faxed to Reuters after Zarqawi was killed, Hamas said it mourned the Jordanian-born insurgent as a "martyr of the (Muslim Arab) nation."

"With hearts full of faith, Hamas commends brother-fighter Abu Musab ... Who was martyred at the hands of the savage crusade campaign which targets the Arab homeland, starting in Iraq," the statement said. (Reuters)

(DOES HAMAS MEAN PEACE IN ARABIC ALSO?)
http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3083,00.html

Posted by: storagemanager at June 8, 2006 12:24 PM

oh the drive by leftist media are going so low they got MrBerg to say he did not want his son's murderur killed, l guess he is the ultimate dhimmi.

Dont want his sons killer killed?I bet that makes Nic all warm and fuzzy inside.What a disgrace of a man,not only would i want my sons killer to die,i would do everything in my power to make sure it was I who did it.

Posted by: patriot4 at June 8, 2006 12:25 PM

I'm glad that this scum is dead; for real and symbolic reasons. If anything are ability to 'handle' him sooner led many of the Jihadists and anti-Jihadists to both assume a. he was very well protected b. how unlucky can we be c. he represents the average Sunni mentality--actually all three may be true! What might have turned the worm here actually is the Jordanians. It has been noted that elements of the Jordanian intl have been on the hunt. They, the kingdom, have a clear vested interested in killing this guy and preserving the 'peace' within their own kingdom. For the same reason, they are against the Israelis leaving any part of the West Bank. They see what is happening in Gaza and don't want any part of it. Of course, the interesting dichotomy here is that the King and his advisors are mostly Western Educated, but the population maybe the most visciously hating of all the "arab" lands. Don't forget that this scumbag is being hailed and mourned throughout "Jordan" . . . this fact must be counterbalanced against any "help" the Jordanians provided here(self interest). May we continue to live in interesting times. The scum is dead, but many more to deal with--in an intelligent fashion. I was again disgusted with Tony Snow's 'read' on this. He criticized a reporter for having the termity to 'ask' about withdrawls. Tony responded with a laugh and a sneer, saying our job is to help then stand up. I would argue this is the perfect time to 'declare victory!' The chief foreign fighters are wiped out--their bases are knocked out--the PM is a tough guy!--he's appointed the defense/interior ministry--THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO DECLARE VICTORY AND START TO GET OUT OF DODGE.

Posted by: biorabbi at June 8, 2006 12:51 PM

THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO DECLARE VICTORY AND START TO GET OUT OF DODGE. Posted by: biorabbi

And what was this business about waiting for Iraq to have a complete cabinet? Why is it such a priority? In any organization, if there is a vacancy, that vacancy by default gets handled by whoever heads that organization. If Rice, for instance, vacated her post, it would (have to) be handled by the President until a successor was named. Similarly, instead of waiting for the top 2 or 3 security jobs (defence, interior and national security) to be filled, why isn't the default to make Prime Minister Malliki responsible for security until that happened?

The very notion that these posts being vacant is responsible for the violence is ludicrous. Reason there is violence is that Shia in the security forces want to take vengence on Sunni, Sunni in the forces want to take it out on Shia. This part of Iraq's internal ethnic divisions is not the job of the US military to solve. Terror, to the extent that Saddam was promoting it internationally, has been solved, and it's time to leave.

Iraq is today where any Islamic country can be expected to be - Sunni-Shia relations aren't much different there than they are in Bahrein, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, et al. If this is such an essential project, why not send troops there? Oops, forget I asked - everytime something stupid is facetiously suggested, there is a danger that the administration will step up to the plate and do it.

So the 3 cabinet positions have been filled. So, what's the next hurdle - getting all the bureaucrats in these ministries their offices and equipment?

Posted by: Infidel Pride at June 8, 2006 1:06 PM

"... but a 500 lb. bomb costs almost 2 million bucks!"
-henry at June 8, 2006 11:37 AM

Actually, a 500 lb Mark 82 with guidance kit costs about $40,000.

Sure as hell beats kicking in the door. My six is worth more to me than forty grand.

Posted by: Eisenhund at June 8, 2006 2:36 PM

Robert wrote: "It is an ideologically-based movement, and that ideology has not been killed -- it has not even been challenged by the West."

I would say it is a religiously-based faith because it is rooted in the worship of supernatural deity --- albeit in my view a false one ---- but I don't wish to split hairs.

The main point is, "it has not even been challenged by the West" because first and foremost it's not been identified.

When our Secretary of defense, in his briefing this morning says, the overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide have rejected al-Zarqawi's vision we have a big problem.

Americans take his words and the words of our president at face value; comments such as:

"The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics -- a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam...... The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect to hijack Islam itself......"

This is a huge problem.

Posted by: monk at June 8, 2006 4:51 PM

Robert,

I'm no expert on Islam, but I am sure Tony Snow and President Bush are not either.

I wonder if the reason Snow can say that "The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics..." is because he is not aware of the "Lesser" and the "Greater" Jihad?

The way I learned about Jihad it that the majority of the "peace loving Muslims" are practicing the nonviolent form of Jihad, which is called the greater because everyone is called to take part in it, while the minority are practicing the violent form of Jihad, called the lesser because not all are called to take part in it.

Jihad is Jihad, whether it is the greater or the lessor. It sounds to me like the majority population in the Muslim world is only saying they reject the violent form of Jihad because they can honestly say they are not called to "the lesser Jihad."

Is it not true that ALL Muslims are called to take part in Jihad, and is it not true that they are all working together, no matter if the are called to the lessor or the greater?

Joe61

Posted by: Joe61 at June 9, 2006 1:27 PM

Joe61,
The 'greater jihad' is the jihad of demographics. Those muslims that are not killing infidels (lesser jihad) participate in 'lesser jihad' by breeding like, well, muslims. They want to overwhelm the world with their sheer numbers. And the world, with its anathema for genocide, is watching helplessly.

Posted by: arjun.sevak at June 10, 2006 3:25 AM