Lincoln vs Cadillac Forums

(This is the forums archive - If you want to get back to the main site simply click the banner above and you will be taken to our homepage.)

Lincoln vs Cadillac Forums is the Ultimate Online Resource for Owners and Enthusiasts of American Luxury Cars. Feel free to browse through our archive - but make sure you make it back to our main site - Lincoln vs Cadillac Forums

Cadillac XLR : Cadillac CTS : Cadillac : 2005 Cadillac STS : Cadillac Forums : 2000 Lincoln LS : Lincoln Mark VIII : Lincoln Mark VII : Car Wax
Lincoln Town Car : Lincoln Air Suspension : Lincoln Continental : Lemon Law : Do It Yourself Car Repair : Lincoln vs Cadillac Forums : Mesothelioma

Back to the Archive Main Page

Pages: 1

Zarqawi killed by US airstrike

(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: fossten

In light of this new information, I think we should surrender in Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. But I support the troops!

Iraq terrorist leader Zarqawi 'eliminated'

Thursday June 8, 2006

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, has been killed in a US airstrike, it was announced today.

Zarqawi, an iconic figure who acted as the axis of foreign insurgent operations against the Iraqi government and coalition forces, died in a military operation last night that targeted a house north-east of Baghdad.

News of his death was announced at around 8.30am today by the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, and was greeted by rapturous applause from his audience.

"Today, Zarqawi was eliminated," he said.

Mr Maliki said Zarqawi and seven aides were killed last night in a house 30 miles north-east of Baghdad, in the volatile province of Diyala.

Aged around 39, Zarqawi was blamed for personally beheading the British hostage Ken Bigley in October 2004 and for leading foreign insurgent fighters in Iraq in strikes against Muslim Shia targets. He was also believed to have masterminded the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad in August 2003.
The Jordanian-born militant headed the US-led coalition's most-wanted list in Iraq and there was a $25m reward for his capture, the same as that offered for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

The US ambassador in Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the top US commander in Iraq, General George Casey, were with the Iraqi PM when he made the announcement.

Dr Khalilzad said Zarqawi was the "godfather of sectarian killings and terror in Iraq". He said his death was a "good omen" for Iraq and the new government. General Casey confirmed Zarqawi was killed in an airstrike.

The American ABC news network said Zarqawi's body was identified by fingerprints and facial recognition.

In a statement released by Downing Street, the prime minister, Tony Blair, said: "This is a very important moment for Iraq. A blow against al-Qaida in Iraq is a blow against al-Qaida everywhere."

Arriving at Downing Street for a weekly cabinet meeting, the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said: "I don't think there can be any question that, from the point of view of the Iraqi government, anything that eases intercommunity strife can only be helpful."

Zarqawi had taunted the US-led coalition for many years by rousing his followers with a series of messages released on the internet. He was wounded and came close to being captured at least once but evaded his pursuers.

Today's announcement came six days after the terrorist leader appeared in a videotape, railing against Iraqi Shias, whose militants he claimed were raping women and killing Sunnis. He said the Sunni community must fight back.

US and Iraqi forces had been hunting for him using a picture obtained about 18 months ago when they arrested his alleged driver and bodyguard.

In April this year, Zarqawi appeared publicly for the first time since the insurgency began three years ago.

In a video posted on the internet, he spoke directly to camera. Dressed in black and with his chest covered in ammunition pouches, he made an appeal to Iraqi Sunnis to support his fight against the US-led coalition and its Iraqi supporters.

In May last year, Zarqawi was thought to have been shot in western Iraq near the Syrian border, where US forces had been mounting an offensive against insurgents.

Zarqawi claimed responsibility for some of the worst atrocities in Iraq, from suicide bombings that have resulted in high death tolls to the beheading of western and Iraqi hostages. He also claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Jordan.

In a message allegedly intercepted by western intelligence, one of Bin Laden's deputies apparently warned Zarqawi that beheadings in Iraq were alienating public opinion.

Zarqawi represented the most extreme section of the insurgency and the US had tried to divide him from the more nationalist-minded and, by comparison, more moderate parts of the insurgency.

Jordan tried Zarqawi in absentia and sentenced him to death for planning attacks in his native country. Intelligence officers in Morocco and Turkey had also implicated him in high-profile suicide attacks there during 2003.

Posted by: pepperman

Hopefully this will end most of the violence in Iraq, and then maybe our troops can come home to a HERO'S welcome. Until then there is still a job to be done there in Iraq.

Posted by: fossten

Here comes the predictable media spin:

That Didn't Take Long: CNN Editor Suggests Zarqawi Death 'Not Going to Be a Big Deal'
Posted by Mark Finkelstein on June 8, 2006 - 06:36.

You just knew it. The MSM had to find a way to downplay the significance of the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Whereas he had been portrayed as the key to violence in the country, now that he's dead, he is described as just one among many.

And sure enough, on CNN this morning at about 6:20 AM, there was Octavia Nasr CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs, interviewed by host Soledad O'Brien, suggesting that Zarqawi's death might not really be such a big deal, after all. She reported that beyond Al Qaeda, there were hundreds, even thousands, of other, home-grown insurgent groups in Iraq.

Concluded Nasr: "Some people say it will enrage the insurgency, others say it will hurt it pretty bad. But if you think about the different groups in Iraq, you have to think that Zarqawi's death is not going to be a big deal for them."

Posted by: Joeychgo

Yeah, GW announced that Mondy he will meet with his National Security people to discuss Iraq. I expect plenty of crayons to be onhand for GW.

Posted by: Calabrio

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joeychgo

Yeah, GW announced that Mondy he will meet with his National Security people to discuss Iraq. I expect plenty of crayons to be onhand for GW.

...cuz' he's so stewped. /sarcasm

Posted by: MonsterMark

Quote:

Originally Posted by fossten

Here comes the predictable media spin:

The media is too invested in our defeat to see it any other way. Predictable and shameful.

Posted by: JohnnyBz00LS

Great, now if we could only accomplish the same w/ OBL.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonsterMark

The media is too invested in our defeat to see it any other way. Predictable and shameful.

It's not just the media who acknowledges Zarqawi's death barely scratches the surface.......

Quote:

"The death of al-Zarqawi is a strike against Al Qaeda in Iraq and therefore a strike against Al Qaeda everywhere, but we should have no illusions. We know that they will continue to kill, we know that there are many, many obstacles to overcome."

— British Prime Minister Tony Blair

At least it's caused oil to drop under $70/bbl.

Posted by: fossten

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyBz00LS

At least it's caused oil to drop under $70/bbl.

WAIT A MINUTE!

I thought the price of oil was caused by EXXON!

Posted by: MrWilson

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joeychgo

Yeah, GW announced that Mondy he will meet with his National Security people to discuss Iraq. I expect plenty of crayons to be onhand for GW.

just like the ones you used when you learned how to spell monday? :P

Posted by: fossten

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrWilson

just like the ones you used when you learned how to spell monday? :P

LOL - Wilson that was funneh...

Reprinted from NewsMax.com

Thursday, June 8, 2006 8:58 a.m. EDT
Democrats Irked Over Zarqawi's Death

Grass-roots Democrats weighing in on several popular liberal Web sites Thursday morning said that they were troubled by reports that al Qaida's top operational terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been killed in a U.S. air strike.

Reacting to the news, one visitor to the Daily Kos complained that using military force to kill Zarqawi "violates everything my America stands for."

"It violates the rule of law and invokes the rule of force in what should be a criminal, not a military, matter."

Another Daily Kos'er was irked because he thought the news would benefit President Bush:

"No doubt Karl Rove will have the sock puppet president acting as if he personally dropped the bomb that killed that jackass," he wrote. "But other than a couple of photo ops of Bush looking cocky, it does nothing because two more tin-plated Zarqawi's will pop up."

A third Kos poster suggested that there was little difference between the top al-Qaida terrorist and the leader of the free world, writing: "Now [that] we are rid of one murderous tyrant - how about the removal of another one - believed hiding in a safe-house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?"

Over at the Democratic Underground, reaction to news of Zarqawi's death was also negative:

"Convenient too that this would happen now," complained one DU'er: "Guess we should just all forget about that Haditha mess, the fact that we are approaching 2,500 dead and the fact that our economy is in big trouble."

Another DU poster said that killing the al-Qaida chief really wasn't such a big deal, insisting: "Zarqawi was a fringe group of al-Qaida, and definitely not responsible for the bulk of the insurgency and civil war now occurring in Iraq. Any gains that they hope to receive will be short-lived when reality strikes home."

Do these people hate America or what?

Posted by: MonsterMark

They have absolutely NO CLUE.

Posted by: TheDude

Quote:

Originally Posted by fossten

LOL - Wilson that was funneh...

Reprinted from NewsMax.com

Thursday, June 8, 2006 8:58 a.m. EDT
Democrats Irked Over Zarqawi's Death

You really need to stop reading NewsMax, it just gets you angrier... I loved the part where the article states "One visitor to the Daily Kos blah blah blah.."

Who is the one guy and does he matter? Seriosly now, you complain (rigthfully so) about the far leff-wing sites that spew crap like "Bush hates black babies." or "Bush waged war on Iraq to fill his own pockets." But you listen to their polar opposites. I just isn't healthy Fossten.

Posted by: Calabrio

Websites like Daily Kos and DemocratUnderground don't represent most Americans. But they do give you a tremendous amount of insight into what is going on WITHIN the base of the Democrat party. It's what they say when Republicans aren't around.

This base of the party is steering the agenda of the party and will have a great deal of influence determining who the nominee will be. As a result, you may not have noticed it, but the mainstream of the party is chasing their votes, moving their agenda in order to accomodate them.

Take a look at those websites. It's really disturbing.

www.democratUnderground.com
www.dailykos.com
www.moveon.org

Posted by: fossten

You really need to stop reading NewsMax, it just gets you angrier... I loved the part where the article states "One visitor to the Daily Kos blah blah blah.."

Who says I'm angry? I am appalled, to be sure, but not angry. You should know by now that you can't tell someone's attitude by reading black words on white background.

Who is the one guy and does he matter? Seriosly now, you complain (rigthfully so) about the far leff-wing sites that spew crap like "Bush hates black babies." or "Bush waged war on Iraq to fill his own pockets." But you listen to their polar opposites. I just isn't healthy Fossten.

Oh, listen to the pot calling me black! You spew talking points from the liberal MSM on a regular basis. You don't even think for yourself. You haven't been able to prove me wrong on anything, ever, while you've been discredited on previous occasions for perpetuating phony stories on this forum. What does that say about what you read vs. what I read?

One more thing: What you don't understand is that YOUR dem leaders are now beholden to the far left fringe as their base, because all their other sources of campaign money have dried up. That's causing them to pander ever more to those wackos you mentioned. Doesn't that bother you?

Posted by: stang99x

Iran, here we come!

Posted by: JohnnyBz00LS

Quote:

Originally Posted by fossten

WAIT A MINUTE!

I thought the price of oil was caused by EXXON!

Stick to things that you actually know something about. OH RIGHT, my bad, you don't know much about ANYTHING! I forgot, sorry.

EXXON doesn't dictate the price of oil, the market does. The only thing EXXON has been accused of is gouging the consumers at the pump in the form of extraordinary PROFITS. Dee dee dee.

But the effect of Zarqawi's death is short lived anyway..........

http://p25.news.re2.yahoo.com/s/nm/markets_oil_dc

Posted by: decibels5

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3966817.stm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060609/...ng_bin_laden_6

Posted by: fossten

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyBz00LS

Except that Exxon hasn't been found guilty of gouging anything, despite a dozen investigations.

Must be a conspiracy.

Oh, by the way, I was being sarcastic, which you evidently didn't catch on to. Shows how much you know.

DEE DEE DEE