Zarqawi killed?

UPDATE: For real, this time.


Is Zarqawi dead?

Compiled by DiL staff in Portland, Oregon.

Scroll down for updates. (This post bumped to top. Originally posted November 20.)

Morning Report noted a news bulletin stating that eight al-Qaeda leaders had been killed in Mosul, Iraq. Now via Little Green Footballs (from LGF reader Carl) there's a report at the Jerusalem Post that the dead include Abu Musab al-Zarqawi himself - the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq:

At least one Arab television media outlet reported that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of the al-Qaida in Iraq, was killed in Iraq on Sunday afternoon when eight terrorists blew themselves up in the in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

The unconfirmed report claimed that the explosions occurred after coalition forces surrounded the house in which al-Zarqawi was hiding. ...

Full article at the link. Stay tuned for updates.

UPDATE from Debka: 'DEBKAfile Exclusive: US forces and forensic experts are examining the bodies of eight high-ranking al Qaeda leaders in Mosul to find out if their chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is among them.

November 20, 2005, 8:28 PM (GMT+02:00)

A sample of his DNA is in American possession for a match-up.
The bodies they are trying to identify are of 7 men and one woman, who blew themselves up Sunday, Nov. 20, after their hideout in northern Iraq was under siege by a large US force, backed by tanks and helicopters. The bodies are burned black and unrecognizable. Four Iraqi security officers were killed and 10 injured in the operation.
DEBKAfile’s military sources add that also Sunday, US and Iraqi forces raided al Qaeda sanctuaries in Baghdad and captured several suspects. They followed an intelligence tip which confirmed DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s disclosure (Issue 227 Oct. 28) of the arrival of Zarqawi and his top team to Baghdad on Oct. 15.'

UPDATE: Iraq the Model weighs in, with information from al-Mada:

"Al-Mada paper said that terrorists hiding in a house fired back at American and Iraqi troops that were surrounding the house in a battle that lasted from dawn to noon on Saturday (Jerusalem Post said it was Sunday)`after receiving intelligence about a meeting for senior al-Qaeda members.

The terrorists blew up the house when an Iraqi assault team tried to break into the house, the blast killed four Iraqi soldiers and wounded ten policemen and also killed all of the hiding terrorists.
Eight charred bodies were found in the scene, one of them belongs to a woman.
An Iraqi security official in Mosul said that US forces will most likely conduct DNA tests on the found bodies to verify whether or not Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi was among the killed terrorists."

Go to ITM for the full post.

UPDATE: Now being reported by AP at Yahoo News by AP's Robert Reid (h/t: Original Jeff at ITM comments):

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgent attacks killed an American soldier near Baghdad and a British trooper in the south Sunday, as U.S. forces sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaida members died in a gunfight — some by their hand to avoid capture.


In Washington, a U.S. counterterrorism official said the identities of the suspected al-Qaida members was unknown. Asked if they could include terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the official replied: "There are efforts under way to determine if he was killed.

The official said spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information..."

Same story being carried now at KBCI 2, Boise.

INDIRECTLY RELATED: Morocco is conducting a counter-terror sting at this moment.
AFP via Turkish Press:

"Moroccan security forces arrested 17 Islamic extremists with ties to the Al-Qaeda network as they were setting up a terrorist cell, officials in Rabat said.

"The Moroccan security services have just dismantled a terrorist structure as it was being formed," a statement said, adding that the suspects would be charged on Monday.

The network was "composed of 17 elements linked to the radical Islamic movement having connections with small groups emerging at the Iraqi border and maintaining close ties with senior members of the Al-Qaeda organization," it said.
...
The arrests were followed by a security alert at airports, harbours, train stations, shopping centres and embassies throughout the country.

Ten days previously, a group calling itself the Islamic Tawhid Wal Jihad Group of Morocco, a name formerly used by Al Qaeda's Iraq frontman Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, announced that it had declared war on the Moroccan state and King Mohammed VI.

Security officials dismissed the declaration as not credible."

Search results powered by Yahoo News.

Earlier today, Stratfor (subscription) published this item:

1623 GMT - Coalition forces in Iraq captured a major al Qaeda in Iraq member in an Oct. 31 raid on a Baghdad safe-house, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Nov. 20. According to CENTCOM, Uthman Faruq Muhammad Abd-al-Hamid (aka Abu Ibrahim) was a technician, advisor and supplier of components for improvised explosive devices and other electronic and communication components. Abu Ibrahim also allegedly was part of the jihadist networkÕs propaganda unit in Iraq, supplying video equipment and computer programs.

UPDATE: AP's Chris Tomlinson via Baltimore Sun:

"BAGHDAD, Iraq // U.S. forces sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaida members died in a gunfight -some by their own hand to avoid capture. A U.S. official said Sunday that efforts were under way to determine if terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.

Insurgents, meanwhile, killed an American soldier and a Marine in separate attacks over the weekend, while a British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the south.

In Washington, a U.S. official said the identities of the terror suspects killed was unknown. Asked if they could include al-Zarqawi, the official replied: "There are efforts under way to determine if he was killed."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

American soldiers maintained control of the site, imposing extraordinary security measures..."

Read the rest at the link.

UPDATE: Stratfor has this:

2128 GMT - Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may have been killed in Iraq, the Jerusalem Post reported Nov. 20, citing the Elaph Arabic language media Web site. According to Elaph, al-Zarqawi may have been among a group of eight insurgents killed after their safe-house was surrounded by coalition forces in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, 225 miles north of Baghdad. According to Iraqi officials, an intense gunbattle erupted after U.S. and Iraqi forces surrounded the farmhouse at dawn on Nov. 19. Three insurgents reportedly blew themselves up and the others were killed by small-arms fire.

UPDATE: Dr. Sanity has more:

"FOXNEWS is now reporting all of the above!! Bret Beir has talking to U.S. officials at the Pentagon. A forensic team is onsight. (4:36 pm)
They are connecting the fact that Zarqawi's family is disowning him at exactly this same time. On the down side, the Pentagon is wondering why terrorist sites are acknowledging his death and whether it might be a ploy to make the US think he's dead when he isn't."

UPDATE: OSM is on it:

"The Jerusalem Post was the first to break -- off Elaph Arab media website - the possible death of al Qaeda terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Mosul yesterday. First US link: Little Green Footballs. Associated Press now chiming in. Blogger comment upcoming."

UPDATE: Atlas Shrugs says it all with this headline. Go read it all!

UPDATE: Razor Sharp Claws says: "If this is true it would be great to take his bank account so there is no more management to take over! All I can say is one down more to go! This isn’t the end of it you stupid Cindy socialist anti American crowd! Our troops are working hard in all areas! This has to be done so that we don’t have trouble on our own soil. But why am I wasting time telling you Cindy people you won’t get any of this anyway ‘too damn dense!" Read full post at link.

UPDATE: Roger Simon has some interesting observations: "JUST A THEORY: If Zarqawi has been killed... and the AP is correct that there was a tip on his whereabouts... that tip could have come from inside Al Qaeda itself or from people friendly to it. After the Amman hotel horrors, Zarqawi was the blodthirsty poster boy for the Al Qaeda Psychopath. If you believe the Zawahiri letter, they didn't need publicity like this. He had to go."

UPDATE: Tammy Bruce writes: "Let's pray this is true. Please, please, please. Let us all think happy thoughts that this freak is personally learning that it's not 72 virgins terrorist Islamists get when they die, it's 72 Virginians (perhaps Thomas Jefferson among them) who will not be kind to him." Go visit Tammy at her homepage, too - and don't forget to bookmark her on your browser!

UPDATE: Debka: "US forensic experts are examining the bodies of eight high-ranking al Qaeda leaders in Mosul to find out if their chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is among them. A White House official in Beijing called that prospect “highly unlikely and not credible.”"

UPDATE: Kilo Echo 4 has some interesting analysis (scroll down to get past the MSM news release):

It is interesting to note that nowhere in this statement is there an actual denial that Zarqawi was one of those terrorists killed in the house in Mosul! General Vines says we have the DNA to match, but does not say anything about the results of any tests, and since he says that "it is possible" he obviously is not yet in possession of the test results, or he is in possession of them and they don't want us to know what those results were!

Now they should have some test results by now, and the fact that an outright denial has not yet been issued is intriguing. With all the rampant speculation surrounding the events in Mosul, you would think that if they know for a fact that he is still alive, they would just go ahead and tell us outright instead of issuing all these "maybe yes, maybe no" statements. ...

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: US Forces are closing in on Zarqawi. 'BAGHDAD (AFP) - US forces are closing in on top Al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgent Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and expects to capture or kill him "in the not too distant future," a US general said. "We come close to Zarqawi continuously and at one point in time, in the not too distant future, we are going to get Zarqawi," Major General Rick Lynch, spokesman for the US-led multinational force in Iraq told reporters. "As a result of the degradation of his leadership, he personally now has to be more active -- he has to move more," he said, adding that it was only a matter of time before they got him. Starting on 28 September, US and Iraqi forces targeted a number of towns and suspected militant strongholds in the Euphrates River valley, saying it killed 700 insurgents and captured 1,500 others.' (AFP via Yahoo News)

UPDATE: Bill Quick of Daily Pundit:

NEWS: I just got off the phone with a spokesman at the CPIC Press Desk for the Multi-National Force - Iraq, who told me that he had no information as to the results of DNA testing - or the current progress of that testing - designed to determine whether Musab Zarqawi was killed in the raid on a house in Mosul on November 19, 2005.
The official position I was given is that MNF-I does not believe that Zarqawi was killed ...

Read the rest, with Bill's analysis, at the link; and remember to bookmark Daily Pundit.

Pajamas Media Update

Some new posting from the bloggers of Pajamas Media:

Daily Pundit is rightfully proud of having broken the phone call to CNN about Dick Cheney's "X". Bill Quick analyzes the chain of events, with some ideas for Pajamas Media to improve its future operations, here. Also keep an eye on Daily Pundit for any new word about possible armed conflict with Syria.

Baldilocks is the point woman for PJM. She's also got a very informative post about developments in Kenya.

Iraq the Model is looking for a new look. Memo to Omar and Mohammed: Stay away from those PR firms.

If you want to catch up on the, er, event in New York last week, Cathy Seipp has the details.

Michael Totten has some thoughts on the latest excitement in Lebanon.

Michelle Malkin posts on another demonstration in Texas.

Roger Simon has some thoughts about a showdown in Syria.

And finally, not on the PJM blogroll but well worth being on yours, there's Alexandra von Maltzan's All Things Beautiful. The title says it all. Go and be amazed. Alexandra, thanks for a wonderful blog.

If you have ideas on how to improve PJM, stop by the discussion forum and share your thoughts!

Pajamas Media Discussion Forum

Laurence Simon has created this Pajamas Media Discussion Forum (hat tip: Pajamas honorary president Ann Althouse). I've registered and posted there, and I encourage you to do so as well, whether or not you're affiliated with Pajamas Media. Go check it out.

The Other World

I dreamed about Stephanie last night. It was dark, but I could see her outline in the room. I don't know how old she was in the dream; she was young, innocent, and ageless. I wanted to ask her something - about her life, about our parents, about what she was feeling now - but she slipped away into the shadows. It was then that I remembered that we no longer belong to the same world.

An Army of One vs. the Yemeni Regime

... and guess which one's winning? Jane at Armies of Liberation continues to attract attention - favorable and otherwise - for her one-woman campaign against repression in Yemen.

The Yemeni government wigged out after I was on al-Jazeera.

So this article is not an attack article but it discusses the pervasive Yemeni governmental media attacks on me. The title is A Front Called Novak:

After more than one week of the battle of the government and the govern party’s press that has launched a campaign against what they pretend is a foreign enemy who is going to root out the country; it is the American journalist Jane Novak.
It is normal that the speech of Jane Novak to Al-Jazeerah has cause all this outrage and reaction of the Yemeni regime, however the regime through it media was vulgar and not was aware of the fact that it gives more evidence and proofs to what was Jane saying .

They launched to attack Jane’s personal affairs and replaced the objectivism with swearing and cursing. ...

Read the rest. See Jane go!

More Thanksgiving Day Messages

Captain James S Eadie, USAF via Blackfive

A Time for Thanksgiving
As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, I eagerly anticipate the plates of turkey and stuffing, the moments of camaraderie around the TV watching football and the sharing of stories amongst friends, but it is the soldiers’ stories of bravery and courage that should be shared on this day of Thanksgiving.

I had the rare chance to talk in depth with one of my CCATT patients on our last flight, a young 24 year old Marine from Camp Pendleton, California. It is Javier’s story hangs with me this day. Javier gave me permission to share his story with you, a true story of heroism, and sacrifice that deserves to be told on Thanksgiving.

On the morning of 16 November 2005, the Marines of 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment were taking part in operations along the Iraq-Syrian board to clear the towns of insurgents.

Javier, a strong and sturdy looking square jawed Marine Corporal was on his third deployment to Iraq. He had seen heavy combat in his previous two deployments, and had been injured once before earning him a Purple Heart. On this day he was in command of a Squad of fourteen men. I knew just by talking to him that his men were fortunate to have him leading them into battle. He spoke with clarity and confidence of a man twice his age. In the truest essence, he was a Marine.

Taking point, Javier led his five man team towards the house. Shots rang out around them as they advanced. They could see the downed Marines ahead. A young Lieutenant lay face down outside the house. Javier did not know if he was still alive. They would have to act quickly if they were to save him and the others.

As they approached the house the enemy fire intensified and Javier felt a sudden sting and burning in his right leg. He looked down at his leg. Damn, he thought, “I’ve been shot.” He indeed had taken two bullets to his thigh, but he pushed on.

Undeterred, Javier continued to lead his men towards the house. With increasing fire, they took up a defensive posture against the house wall. Slightly protected there, he began tending his wounds with direct pressure as the others returned fire. He could see several downed Marines only arm lengths away, but they could not be reached safely. Gun fire continued to rain down on them. Another member of the squad was hit. They were in a bad position.

What happened next was recalled to me by the Medic that they called Doc. During the barrage of fire, with their backs literally up against a wall an enemy grenade was thrown out of a window landing in the middle of the five men. Doc told me “It was amazing. I was applying pressure to one of the injured soldiers when someone yelled out GRENADE. Javier just dove at the grenade. I have never seen anything like it.”


Javier grabbed the grenade with his right hand. ...

Read the rest at the link.

Jonah's military guys provide a photo-essay on Thanksgiving around the world.

Thanksgiving Day Proclamation

President Bush's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation via the White House:

Thanksgiving Day, 2005
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America


Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving Day is a time to remember our many blessings and to celebrate the opportunities that freedom affords. Explorers and settlers arriving in this land often gave thanks for the extraordinary plenty they found. And today, we remain grateful to live in a country of liberty and abundance. We give thanks for the love of family and friends, and we ask God to continue to watch over America.

This Thanksgiving, we pray and express thanks for the men and women who work to keep America safe and secure. Members of our Armed Forces, State and local law enforcement, and first responders embody our Nation's highest ideals of courage and devotion to duty. Our country is grateful for their service and for the support and sacrifice of their families. We ask God's special blessings on those who have lost loved ones in the line of duty.

We also remember those affected by the destruction of natural disasters. Their tremendous determination to recover their lives exemplifies the American spirit, and we are grateful for those across our Nation who answered the cries of their neighbors in need and provided them with food, shelter, and a helping hand. We ask for continued strength and perseverance as we work to rebuild these communities and return hope to our citizens.

We give thanks to live in a country where freedom reigns, justice prevails, and hope prospers. We recognize that America is a better place when we answer the universal call to love a neighbor and help those in need. May God bless and guide the United States of America as we move forward.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 24, 2005, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather together in their homes and places of worship with family, friends, and loved ones to reinforce the ties that bind us and give thanks for the freedoms and many blessings we enjoy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Andrea Elspeth: Parasite no more!

Alas, a Blog announces that Nick Kiddle's baby,

Andrea Elspeth was born at twenty to 1 yesterday (Wednesday) morning and weighed in at 7lbs 2 oz. They are both healthy and well although Nick is a little tired and battered by the experience.

Welcome to Andrea Elspeth! And congrats to Nick, and wishing him a speedy recovery from his delivery.

Okay, people, you just don't know what fun you're missing.

Dr. Laura's Worst Nightmare photoblogs her 88-year-old mother-in-law getting down to the Clash.

Let's all take a lesson from Mrs. Clara M.

"The Will to Power Surges"

Credit Sissy Willis with linking this wonderful poem by Jeffrey Hull:

Disputation

In fang and claw, or pen and key
The will to power surges;
With biting prose or sophistry
We bare our baser urges.
...

Gotta go to the link to read it all. Thank you Jeffrey, and Sissy, for helping us keep some perspective.

And contemplating this poem, it occurs to me that some folks in blogland could use some surge protectors ...

Pajamas Media Roundup

Tammy hosts an open thread. Stop by and say hi to the turkey!

Charles has some sobering thoughts on the meaning of the poppy in Britain - yesterday and today.

Gateway Pundit sets the record straight on Iraqi troop readiness.

Austin Bay gets past the Michael Moores unburies some good news.

Dean Esmay can help you find an update from Kerry Dupont and some exciting geeky news about qbits. (Silly me. I never thought of embedding my Cooper-pair transistor in a resonant circuit.)

Gay Patriot has some thoughts about the greatest country on earth.

And finally, Ann Althouse, honorary president of Pajamas Media, has an in-depth analysis of media coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Don't miss it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ayaan Hirsi Ali interview

Sappho has an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (hat tip: Free Thoughts).

Disturbing questions about the massive muslim presence in Europe are becoming more urgent by the day: It it possible to integrate muslims to become part of Europe? Will we have a liberal version of islam? And if not, what is there to look forward to? Civil war? Dissolution? An islamic take-over?

If your head is full of such nagging thoughts, it is a solace to meet Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the liberal Dutch politician and originally muslim immigrant from Somalia. Since the murder of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh, for whose strongly islam-critical film "Submission I" Ms. Ali wrote the script, she has been under constant police protection. That was also the case when Sappho.dk interviewed her during her recent visit to Copenhagen. ...

- Why does this thoroughly political person with her background as a political scientist express herself through an artistic medium?

"Because sometimes art is much more powerful than words. Art is accessible to many more more people than if you write a piece on an op-ed page. To understand art you don't have to know how to read and write," says Hirsi Ali, who then turns to the international furor caused by the twelve drawings of the prophet Muhammed recently published by the Danish national daily Jyllands-Posten.

"It is absolutely necessary for liberal European countries like Denmark to protect free speech. I've been in Holland for 13 years, and in a very short time I have learned how Europe came to be what it is today. And part of that was a huge conflict of religion. It started with the Reformation and reached its climax during the Enlightenment. If you refrain from making cartoons of Muhammed to accommodate Islamic intolerance, then you will go back to the time of Christian intolerance."

- Have you had any support among Dutch artists for your position?
"Yes, most of them do not agree with the style of what I have to say, but they find that I have the right to say it. I'm going to make a film called "Submission II", and the people who want to help me make it think that it is my decision what I want to say. I'm so happy about that. It's a big relief because at first I was afraid nobody was going to help me. The next challenge will be who is going to broadcast it. Which TV-channel, which cinema? But we will cross that bridge when we get to it."

RTWT...