*Why* was the US just now able to finally "kill" off Zarqawi?

[Roland99]

Put it this way. Before 2003, Zarqawi was a thug who'd served time in Jordan for threatening to topple the Jordanian monarchy and was hiding out in Northern Iraq, after having been in Afghanistan, where Bush actually had a chance to capture him BEFORE the invasion but he honestly wasn't too worried about him. War was going to happen no matter what. I think Zarqawi was killed early on as some reports allude to:
http://www.conjur.com/blog/2005/11/20/zarqawis-dead-again-3rd-times-a-charm-eh/

I think the persona of Zarqawi has been kept up to assign a boogeyman in Iraq that the American people could focus on to keep support going for the war. This isn't much different from the neoconservative attempts to paint the Soviet threat as much worse than it was and also for exaggerating the Islamist movement to keep that perpetual boogeyman of fear out there.

Now that the tide has turned against staying in Iraq, this administration needed to kill off the boogeyman. Pulling troops out beforehand would be admitting "defeat" (the US surely couldn't leave behind a horrible, vicious, murderous man like Zarqawi behind!!). Now, they can pull troops out and save some face and hand over control to the fledgling Iraqi gov't now that Zarqawi is "dead".

[Kikosexy2]

1. So basically...

you're saying Mission Accomplished???...

[Roland99]

2. Hmm...it would appear so. Stand by for upcoming troop reduction statements

It will also take heat off of the Haditha investigations to pull troops out.

[Kikosexy2]

3. hmmm..

you might have something there...we'll wait and see...

[Roland99]

4. It would certainly cut into Dem campaigns running to pull troops out.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Sadie5]

6. Why??

Because there were so many pressing things to cover up. When all else fails they drag out another body. Looks like Z...was on ice for awhile awaiting his resurrection as he looked cleaned up in the picture.

[lebkuchen]

12. If they reduce, it will be the 1,500 1AD that were just sent into Iraq

from Kuwait. I doubt anything more than that.

The call for a "reduction" will entice this year's high school graduates with nothing to do/no place to go into joining the army/marines, thinking that the war is phasing out. I think that is Bush's game plan. The summer months for recruitment have never been more crucial.

Haditha will have otherwise put a huge damper on the recruitment quota. The capture of Zarkawi restores pride of America's armed forces, just in time for Pomp and Circumstance.

[Roland99]

13. That might be a selling point to increase recruitment.Less chance of dying

in Iraq.

[lebkuchen]

15. Since Rummy controls the release of recruitment figures of all branches

we don't really know what the numbers are other than to assume that he has doctored them; otherwise, why assume responsibility for their release to the media?

The 2004 recruitment rates showed a drop of 12% army-wide. That's when Rummy took over. We can assume the 2005 figures showed a drop higher than 12%. June - Aug are essential to make quota if the Bushies plan anything against Iran.

Couple that with the enticements to the NG to join up for US border patrol...will he get enough boots to make a difference?

[warrens]

7. Evidently, someone ratted him out

He's made a lot of enemies within Iraq and within the insurgency for his butchery. This isn't particularly surprising.

[Roland99]

9. Sorry, I find that incredibly contradictory to bin Laden/Zawahiri

Al Qaeda, itself, is a small, fanatical faction of Islamist groups in general. Al Qaeda is more violent than the other groups and has geared itself more toward attacking the west, esp. the US. Most Islamist groups just want to setup Islamic states in their own countries.

Zawahiri's own history was of violent bloodshed against Muslims that did not follow his radical ideology. Why would he now be critical of the same thing? It doesn't make sense.


BTW, I suggest you check out The Power of Nightmares:
http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares

[cantstandbush]

8. The insurgent leaders themselves turned Al-Zarqawri in. They were

angrgy about his killing of innocent civilians and hes tactics were scorned.
Watch now for the step up of attacks against US forces AND increased fighting among the Shi'ites and Sunnis as the Kurds sit back and accept the goods from the US and Israel. In about six months we will be hearing about the Kurds taking over more and more territory in the north.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

10. Turkey et al won't allow that.

They'll raise holy hell before allowing the Kurds to take over.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

20. I agree and I wonder if it had any connection to the video he released

glorifying his exploits. This was a departure from his veiled behavior of the past and may have angered some in the insurgency leadership or he may have been the dupe in a power struggle. It seems that if he was going to be sold-out it would have occurred a lot earlier than now and the timing on the heels of the video's release is somewhat suspicious.

[lebkuchen]

11. Bush needed to resurrect the image of the US forces post Haditha

Maybe there is some utterly damning information about to be made public, and that, on top of Abu Ghraib would test the stamina of even the most naive American.

Bush's speech today was full of praise for "the tireless efforts of our armed forces" and "how proud we can be of what they have done to keep us safe in America," and so on and so forth.

Whatever happened to Zarkawi, the timing of his death was just too convenient. I think Bush was able to pull the plug at will. He was holding him for an opportune time, when he most needed to manipulate the public, similar to the Homeland Security color code alerts.

Rove likes two-fers, so he was probably also trying to convince the high school classes of '06 that it was safe to join the army again--"The bad man is dead and the good guys got him. Maybe you can be one of them."

One can anticipate that Haditha will wreak havoc on Marine/Army enlistment rates, and during the summer months, which are historically peak for recruitment.

Lack of military recruits is why Bush is now having the National Guard perform border patrol duties, to make Americans think that he's phasing down the war and won't be sending NG to Iraq anymore, instead keeping them in the US to defend us from "wetbacks." Border patrol was supposed to be the job of Homeland Security, but Bush can't deploy federal workers to Iraq.

Everything about Bush is a ruse.

[Roland99]

14. Another thing that's been bothering me. Why would "Al Qaeda" tip off US?

Wouldn't that cause problems within the "Al Qaeda" organization?

Wouldn't there be blowback for outing one of their own?

[mhatrw]

16. Good question.

No PSYOP lasts forever. Not even Zarqawi. And once your status as a PSYOP is leaked to the public, your days are numbered.

WaPo - Zarqawi is a US Military PSYOP: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900890.html

The NY Times Played Along: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002314713

Zarqawi - Bush's Man For All Seasons: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FJ15Ak02.html

UPI (Moonie Times) - How the US Created the Zarqawi Myth: http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:2QuiYcfLZV0J:www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php%3FStoryID%3D20051110-014753-2561r+Claim:+U.S.+Created+al-Zarqawi+Myth&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1

CIA Agent Says US Allowed Zarqawi to Escape: http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/us-allowed-zarqawi-to-escape/2006/04/30/1146335608444.html

How the US fuelled myth of Zarqawi the mastermind: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/04/wirq04.xml

Reputed Terrorist Al-Zarqawi Still Shrouded in U.S.-Fed Myth, Mystery: http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/1546

Zarqawi - Everywhere & Nowhere: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GG07Ak02.html

A collection of pix of our happily finally actually dead parrot: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2327738&mesg_id=2328504

A collection of previous links saying Zarqawi was dead, seriously injured or captured: http://www.conjur.com/blog/2005/11/20/zarqawis-dead-again-3rd-times-a-charm-eh

From: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/04/10/GR2006041000097.html

[Roland99]

17. Leverage Xenophobia??

:banghead:

[mhatrw]

18. Ain't that the immigration bit as well? (nt)

[Roland99]

19. Xenophobia. Homophobia. FEAR FEAR BIGOTRY FEAR!

[paparush]

21. Zarq was pulled out of the freezer when the time was right...

To clear the headlines (very effective I might add).

Headlines Then-
*Gay Marriage Ammendment Failed to Pass
*Bush Poll Numbers Still Suck
*Lay and Skilling Convicted
*Al Gore is new Martin Scorscese

Headlines Now:
*The Righteous Might of the Americoalition has Brought Justice and Freedom to the Iraqi People
*We are Winning (never mind that we Mission Accomplished 3+ yrs ago)
*Bush Doctrine Saves World from Godless Muslim Hordes

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