So Zarqawi is dead. Good riddance. To all the skeptics out there, it seems that Zarqawi wasn’t a "US invention" or a "creation by Jordanian intelligence" after all! What will the conspiracy theorists say now? "We need proof!" "We want to see the corpse." [There’s now pictorial evidence] Frankly, I would have preferred seeing him captured and then put to justice so that everyone could see how sinister this man was and that he really existed, inflicting terror upon millions and millions of people.
David Igantius wrote in the Washington Post in November of last year that Jordan was determined to capture or kill Zarqawi following the terrorist attacks on the kingdom.
A senior official told me that Jordan is considering aggressive new anti-terrorism operations that will seek to capture or kill Abu Musab Zarqawi and his top lieutenants. When I asked King Abdullah about the campaign, he explained, "Zarqawi brought the war to our doorstep, and there’s a feeling in Jordan that we’d like to bring him to justice."
Well, they were true to their word as:
A Jordanian official said Jordan also provided the U.S. military with information that helped in tracking al-Zarqawi down. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was addressing intelligence issues, would not elaborate, but Jordan is known to have intelligence agents operating in Iraq to hunt down Islamic militants. Source: [MSNBC]
Today is a good day for humankind!
Update: Zarqawi’s relatives are now calling him a martyr. Yeah, whatever! I hope he enjoys a prime place in hell as a slave to the devil himself. What’s wrong with these people, really! Were they not the very same ones who declared that they disowned him following the terror attacks in Jordan last November.
Update 2: According to Aljazeera (Arabic), Al-Qaeda in Iraq has confirmed Zarqawi’s death.
For myself, I tend to believe that calling at least some, if not all, of Al Jazeera “journalists” is about as believable as claiming Bill O’Reilly in the US is “unbiased”. Being a mouth piece for liers, reporting things so they always sound one way, or simply being so concerned with viewership that you don’t look for the truth, which is the main problem in the US, doesn’t make you a journalist, finding the truth, confirming that it *is* true and reporting honestly what happened does. There may be a completely legitimate reason for that arrest, even if, sadly, reporting only the stuff you or your sponsors “want you to” and with their personal “spin” isn’t usually one of them.
Natasha,
Al-Zargawi, Allah la yroudoh.
However, I’m curious, as a journalist, how do you feel about the Jordanian authorities shutting up and arresting the Al-Jazeera reporter?
You typically would have been all over that – condemning such restrictions on journalism and such treatment of journalists.
There has been confirmation of the arrest of Zarqawi’s brother via AFP and new word that Zarqawi was actually alive when they found him:
This should be the model on how we deal with confirmed terrorists, period! Shut them up immediately. Don’t let them spew their hatred even more, look at Saddam Hussein every day making a mockery of the court, he should have been killed as soon as they found him. Take care.
why was the journalist arrested? he was just interviewing the guy.
Zarqawi’s brother-in-law and an al-Jazeera reporter have been arrested:
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/06/jordan_arrests_zarqawis_brothe.php
Can anyone in Jordan confirm this report?
“Getting killed by a bomb from above was likely the easier way out, compared with time spent in trial, then in prison, then execution.”
I absolutely agree with this statement. When I found out about Zarqawi’s death my initial reaction was shock and happiness. Thinking about it though, I feel he did get the easy way out — a quick death.
On a side note, I saw pictures of the Iraqis and Marines dancing in the streets of Baghdad. Seeing the Iraqi people so happy really made me feel even better about this whole situation than I already did.
I admit that I am a bit nervous about retaliation from al Qaeda – and they will retaliate. I hope that everyone keeps a clear head about that and will be on guard. For now, however, may al Zarqawi burn in hell!
Andre,
Jordan’s efforts in the hunt for radical militants have been anything but weak. Some have even accused its policies on fighting extremism as being complascent with US interest. Unless there is a province in Afghanistan called Jordan, your question is similar to asking why the sky is green.
Why would Jordan wait until it gets bombed before helping track down Zarqawi. What about other terrorists that they may have info on? Should we just wait until Jordan gets attacked again before trying to capture the next terrorist?