My Nose Was Buried In Regulations Today...

...did I miss anything?

Hehe...

RE: What a Watada

Any scintilla of sympathy I might have had for this person vanished when I did the math and realized he had accepted a commission in the Army several months after the commencement of Iraqi Freedom.

This is just posturing and political grandstanding. There's no higher principle at play here.

Zarqawi's Last Moments

The Australian has a great summary of events leading up to the strike that killed Zarqawi. The article also touches upon the aftermath of the bombing. I find this passage particularly satisfying:

The house, and all inside it, was wiped out. However, Jordanian sources last night said Zarqawi did not die instantly. Though mortally wounded, he was alive when Iraqi and US troops arrived on the scene. His brutal reign ended 10 minutes after the bombs fell.

What does "mortally wounded" mean in Zarqawi's case? I don't know, but if it means Zarqawi had any awareness whatsoever, how appropriate that the last people he may have seen before dying were Iraqi and American forces. Gotcha!

Fighting Falcon

Here's a quick rundown of the aircraft that introduced AMZ to Lucifer....

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a compact, multi-role fighter aircraft. It is highly maneuverable and has proven itself in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack. It provides a relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system for the United States and allied nations.

In an air-to-surface role, the F-16 can fly more than 500 miles (860 kilometers), deliver its weapons with superior accuracy, defend itself against enemy aircraft, and return to its starting point. An all-weather capability allows it to accurately deliver ordnance during non-visual bombing conditions.

Air power!

What a Watada

Dkelsmith on 1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada:

I am not sure if he is a deserter, or if he is anti-American, or even if he is a coward. All I do know is he is a shitty Officer. Any man who accepts a commission and refuses to go where the men he commands are going is a piece of garbage.

Maybe "Watada" will become a common military term.

Esteemed Commentary On Zarqawi's Death

A few of the most thoughtful blog posts yet about Zarqawi's ticket to hell being punched by two 500-lb bombs.

Col. Pat Lang:

And then there is the "question" of the ongoing sectarian and ethnic civil war in the country. This says nothing to that.
No. The big story today was the approval of Defense and Interior ministers. Will they prove to be "up to" the task of creating the forces that will hold the country together?
Time is running out. Let us see if violence diminishes.

Thomas PM Barnett (of "Pentagon's New Map" fame):

.... I am not a believer in the notion that Al Qaeda will get smarter each time we kill or capture one of their leaders. I believe that is a cherished myth among their ranks, one perpetuated by some--but surely not all--Fourth Generation Warfare theorists. I think every time we kill one of their best and brightest, we achieve some incoherence within their ranks. Yes, tactical victories are always there for their taking, but strategic ones require strategic coordination, and killing top leaders makes such coordination much harder.

That doesn't mean less terrorism from their ranks, just less strategically effective terrorism. And the less effective their strategy becomes, the more the terrorists move into the same pool as the narcos and others who live off grid and regularly abuse the nets for their particular purposes. In short, they become less the vaunted enemy and more the chronic problem to manage.

John Robb :

This is excellent news, but it needs to be put into context (this is a brief for decision makers/analysts/thinkers and not motivation for the rank and file, so don't expect fluff -- as is often said, only the paranoid survive and every good commander I know understands this). Zarqawi is best categorized as violence capitalist, very similar to bin Laden, that supported and incubated guerrilla entrepreneurs of the new open source warfare model. In this role he was instigator of violence and not the leader of a vast hierarchical insurgency.

Links courtesy of the incredibly informative Small Wars Council.

RE: Bottom Line Up Front

Two great pieces of news out of Iraq late yesterday.

As reported by the Associated Press, Iraq’s parliament broke the long stalemate over who would be appointed to the Ministries of Interior, National Security, and Defense. Of course, the AP couldn’t even squeeze in their lead sentence without an obligatory “as violence left at least 19 people dead and 40 wounded, according to police.”

No matter, that’s the tip of the defeatist iceberg, more on that later.

Also reported by AP, Abu Musab Zarqawi, the lethally effective leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a coordinated attack by US air assets, assisted by Iraqi forces, apparently enabled by tips from Iraqi Sunnis and Jordanian Intelligence.

Mysteriously absent from the AP report on Zarqawi was any immediate reference to “ongoing sectarian violence.” Credit the AP with some composure or restraint. Perhaps they were in shock; the story reads pretty straight.

What a day, a 24 hour news cycle with such great news, and indications that news of Zarqawi’s death sparked celebrations in Iraq. Journalists even cheered, in a spontaneous demonstration of joy at their country’s success against terror. (Choke on your drink? Those were Iraqi journalists, natch, not American.)

The American Press? They were clearly ready with Obituaries.

Bottom Line Up Front

Today was a very bad day for al Qaeda.

Today was a very good day for the rest of human civilization.

Everything else is noise.

Zarq Video - the Remix

That didn't take long.

Yon Interviews

Mike Yon:

When news of al-Zarqawi's death broke earlier this morning, I called the top enlisted man in Iraq, who has his finger on the pulse like nobody else, both for the big picture and the tactical level. Click here to listen to my conversation with Command Sergeant Major Jeffrey Mellinger about conditions on the ground in Iraq.

Collateral Damage?

I believe in reviewing the video of the MNF-I press conference I heard MG Caldwell mention that a child may have been killed in the house we chose as Zarqawi's gateway to hell. If that's accurate the Left will have something to cheer about today, too. I wouldn't be surprised to learn Zarqawi always had a young child nearby, for various uses including propaganda value of death in an attempt on him. If one of Zarqawi's minions brought it's own child along to the sleepover that's another inhuman action added to a long list of such behavior.

I've heard rumors that some of the pre-strike intel came from captured al Qaeda types. Perhaps that's the "sources within Zarqawi's network" mentioned as providing actionable intel for the strike, vice some eager young junior leader of the group wanting to "get ahead" in a different way. Rush Limbaugh is convinced that "someone" over the next few days will raise the "were they tortured" question. I doubt it - but this actually puts the allegedly "anti-torture" crowd in an awkward position. Don't ask/don't tell?

An alternate view on Zarqawi's death.

Or really, a look from a different perspective.

From a mailing list I inhabit, from an intel analyst:

Call it the James J. Angleton in me, and not to look a gift horse too closely in the mouth, al Zarqawi's death is a mixed blessing. I am certainly glad that he has gone to the land of the forty virgins, no mistake about that. al Zarqawi had, I believe, outlived his usefulness, He had outlived his utility and had been attempting to aggrandize his position -- authority over Jordan, etc. Osama bin Laden is the father figure for al Qaeda, He needs not a first born son. The whole concept of al Qaeda is a flat organizations very loosely interrelated, any attempt to create a hierarchy goes against the bin Laden rules. al Zarqawi's death releases all the nascent al Qaeda influenced groups to operate as he envisaged. The danger is still there. Therefore, it would be most interesting to track back the intelligence sources which revealed his movement and position. Small additional point: whether 500 lb. bombs or Hellfire missiles, what has been obliterated is not only the target and his aides, but also, most probably, a set of very valuable records. These would include his penetration both the provincial hierarchies but also the national government, and any relations with other countries.

Dustbin

I couldn't help but notice that Michael Totten's friend in Iraq used a familiar quote here.

More Video

Not as cool as the airstrike video, but here's the video of Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman MG William Caldwell addressing reporters in Baghdad about the killing of Zarqawi.

Would have been nice if the camera could have moved to the various charts, but plenty of details here that the press hasn't covered yet.

Update: Actually, this video includes a narrated version of the strike video - the entire thing is a definite must see.

Zarqawi Airstrike Video.

It appears CENTCOM has posted the video. I'd expect huge delays due to demand on the server.
H/t, Chuck Simmins.

I've put it on my server. It's on You Tube now, so we can be nice to Hosting Matters.

Re: No Joy

It's beginning to look like the Zarqawi takedown is a greater blow to morale of the American Left than it is to al Qaeda.

I'd hoped that wouldn't be the case this time.

While there is joy in Mudville today...

There is none at the Democratic Underground.

In a post below, I snark, and link to a tongue-in-cheek look at the Dem's reactions to Zarqawi's death. Via Confederate Yankee, we are led to Texas Rainmaker - who notes that the Democratic Party Base simply cannot be parodied.

While I'm at it - Defense Tech has a good bit of rolling coverage of all things Zarqawi. And only the Submariner Academic at Unconsidered Trifles would note Zarqawi's assumption of room temperature by quoting Shakespeare and Patton - togther.

TINS!*

TINS= This Is No Sh*t. A war story.

And you know you want to read one that ends like this:

Post-epilogue: As the Princess has constantly (and fetchingly) pointed out in the past, we sometimes engage in squid-snarks around this place, but I must confess to a certain admiration for the Navy--after all, I can attest to the fact that it was the *first* uniformed service to utilize, in combat, a brown-water patrol boat powered by a four ton, turbine-engined outboard motor with a 48-foot prop.

Operated by an Army crew.

So, drop on by and get The Rest of the Story. It's told by an Aviator, so you know it will be good, if probably only containing 5% truth...

TF 145

Bill Roggio reminds us of the role of Task Force 145 in rolling up al Qaeda in Iraq over the past months.

The tightening of al-Qaeda's network in and around Baghdad provided Task Force 145 an opportunity to focus on Zarqawi's organization. Task Force 145 systematically began to dismantle al-Qaeda's organization from the bottom up. Cell leaders, financiers, facilitators and military commanders were rolled up in a series of target raids, slowly degrading al-Qaeda's capabilities while opening a window to al-Qaeda's organization and operations.

While fine details of Task Force 145 are classified, the groups activities have been publicized by the military, to varying results.

Amnesty in Iraq

Meanwhile:

BAGHDAD — Iraqi authorities released nearly 600 prisoners Wednesday out of a total of 2,500 who are scheduled to be freed this week in an effort to appease Sunni Arabs who say their sect has been unjustly persecuted by Iraq's police force.

It would be nice if they started singing "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" and then began building hospitals and schools - or simply stopped shooting at Americans trying to do so - but even those who couldn't carry a tune with a pistol grip have a chance to end the violence and still save face - that last bit being an important element of conflict resolution in the region.

Re: The Raid and After

After the air strikes, CoalitionForces launched 17 raids against terrorist targets in Baghdad "within hours" of identifying Zarqawi, uncovering a "treasure trove" of intelligence information. The targets were previously being exploited to track Zarqawi's movements. Now the Coalition is pushing rapidly to roll-up the al Qaeda network in Iraq.

And the press is so busy trying to get stories about coalition deaths in Iraq to "balance" the Zarqawi story that they've missed it. The announcement of the Ministers of Defense and Interior is being ignored too, or mentioned briefly and "balanced" with references to how long it took. Arguably that's information significant only to the handful of people outside of Iraq who know what's going on in Iraq - but it's huge news.

But back to the 17 (so far) raids. Imagine how many known operators and locations have been watched - even at some cost - in order to make this day happen. Now it's go time on them, and with intel gained there other dominoes are likely to fall.

Unsinkable

The USS Cole is headed back to the Middle East with the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group.

Kos Kids React

...in pretty much predictable fashion. A few comments from the Daily Kos post on Zarqawi, which itself is just an excerpt from an AP story:

Bush's idea of justice is bombs falling out of the sky?
by Johann on Thu Jun 08, 2006 at 04:49:28 AM PDT

That phrase, "delivered justice," sent a shiver up my spine.
What was delivered was retribution, not justice. This is plenty biblical, but not "just." Muslims, Christians, Jews -- all the followers of the cousin religions born in those lands -- have heard and ignored divine calls for restraint on revenge. That's what it means to say "[no more than] an eye for an eye."
Confusion between justice -- a dispassionate and methodical determination of guilt or innocence, and retribution -- simply revenge, but with the stench of summary justice, is a hallmark of the fundamentalist mentality.
Talk doesn't cook rice -- Chinese Proverb
Lingua Politica
by OldYellerDog on Thu Jun 08, 2006 at 05:27:24 AM PDT

19 were killed today also. I'm a bit doubtful this is going to change much. It wasn't as if al-Zarqawi himself brainwashed people who otherwise were not interested in al-Qaeda or killing innocent people, and I'm doubtful he personally directed all actions there. He's a figurehead.
by poxonyou on Thu Jun 08, 2006 at 05:03:09 AM PDT

well, those wingnut fundies, of whom georgie boy is one, always did prefer the old testament to the new.
by hind on Thu Jun 08, 2006 at 06:00:45 AM PDT

Anyone notice that the Worlds' Stock Markets are in free fall?
So a 400 pt drop in the DJIA will get Osama killed?
by jmmcgowanjm on Thu Jun 08, 2006 at 05:15:08 AM PDT

Guess it sucks to be a "Progressive" today, too.

Heh. I shouldn't have slept in.

I missed the party.

That said - not everybody is happy the Z-man has assumed room temperature.

The Raid, and After

MGEN BILL CALDWELL:

Zarqawi (and several others) was killed by two 500lb. bombs dropped from US Air Force F-16s. The location of the "safe house" was apparently provided by a tip from within his own organization.

After the air strikes, CoalitionForces launched 17 raids against terrorist targets in Baghdad "within hours" of identifying Zarqawi, uncovering a "treasure trove" of intelligence information. The targets were previously being exploited to track Zarqawi's movements. Now the Coalition is pushing rapidly to roll-up the al Qaeda network in Iraq.

President Bush's Statement on Zarqawi

Full text in the extended section.

Sic Semper Terrorists

AMF.

Re: Next

Zarqawi may have been an "embarrassment" to some in al Qaeda, but the "martyr" title is vastly overrated.

The opportunity to kill Shiites has been a major recruiting attraction for al Qaeda in Iraq for some time now. This is well known to the people of Iraq, where the term "Takfiri" is now the commonly used description. It's a bit too late for al Qaeda to try for an "image makeover".

What next? When groups like these lose a dynamic leader there usually follows a period of bloody internal power struggle. Most of the actual members of al Qaeda in Iraq had personally pledged loyalty to Zarqawi - these pledges being a crucial aspect of belonging for the group, and probably quite a thrill for Zarqawi. With Zarqawi gone, no one is so "betrothed" to anyone else in the organization, and it's likely that Zarqawi was bedded down with many of the prime candidates to replace him when we turned him into crispy crusted killer with a garnish of pink mist.

Expect some splitting, factionalization, and (hopefully) infighting as a lineup of "wannabes" struggle to gain that level of worship within the organization. As an added bonus, many of the would-be kings will probably gleefully rat out their rivals to the coalition (in fact one may have done that to Zarqawi) to eliminate their rivals without getting actual blood on their own hands.

Here's to many more martyrs.

The Glass Is Half-Full, Even At The Economist

Economist (Reg Req'd):

Mr Zarqawi’s death will not deter them; indeed, having achieved martyrdom, the supposed ambition of all jihadist militants, he may have inspired them more by his death. But it may also be a blow to those in Iraq, especially the small minority of foreign militants, intent on exporting terror around the region and the world.

Skepticism aside, I lean towards thinking the glass is half full, mainly because in taking the long view, if we can curb the spread of terror from Iraq into places like Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Britain, Germany and France, all the better. The biggest worry of most has tended to be what happens after the conflict subsides in Iraq? Where do these highly experienced jihadists venture to next? Hopefully Greyhawk is on the money about blooming rivalries leading to more deaths like this.

However, in country, Al-Sadr is going to be our real problem....

Congrats to the Air Force, the intel types and our allies like Jordan who helped make this happen.

Re: Strategy Page Predicted

Strategy Page may have predicted one possible piece of the puzzle, but let's remember how close we got so many times. Remember the truck chase where we lost him at just the right moment but got his laptop and a buddy or two?

I'm putting my credit to the guys who got 'im. More, please.

CENTCOM's site has nothing at the moment nor does SOCOM, but DefenseLink does; press release here. Big roundup with NRO press evaluation here.

Next?

Is this guy now at the top of the target list in Iraq?

"We herald the martyrdom of our mujahid (warrior) Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq... and we stress that this is an honour to our nation," said a statement on an Islamist Web site, signed by Zarqawi's deputy, Abu Abdulrahman al-Iraqi.

A note on names: "al-Iraqi" means "the Iraqi," implying that this guy is actually from Iraq, unlike "al-Zarqawi" who hailed from the Jordanian city of Zarqa. Some Coalition documents had Saddam Hussein's name written as "Saddam Husayn al-Tikriti." This style of appellation often creates confusion in the West, as some mistakenly assume that these are family names.

Also, "Abu" is an affectionate appellation, similar to the informal use of "Uncle" for non-relatives in English.

Zarqawi's real name was (most lilkely) "Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh," but he probably hadn't been called by that name in several years.

CINC's Message

From the White House:

"On behalf of all Americans, I congratulate our troops on this remarkable acheivement. Zarqawi is dead. But the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq continues."

Washington Post coverage of the speech here.

Official transcript here.

RE: Strategy Page Predicted...

Does anyone think someone higher up in al-Qaeda set him up to get rid of a growing liability?

I'm skeptical. This is a major psychological blow for them, and a shot in the arm for us, just when we needed one. I'm sure the Kossacks and DUers are already "questioning the timing."

Then again, they do prefer to plan for long-term gain, often making seemingly illogical short-term sacrifices. Bin Laden did, after all, contribute to the downfall of the Soviet Union (but I think al Qaeda gives themselves far too much credit on that one).

Strategy Page Predicted Zarqawi To Be Ratted Out

In what looks like a really timely piece of analysis, Strategy Page came out with a post yesterday titled "Zarqawi Scheduled For Martyrdom". Excerpt:

Given that Zarqawi has become a loose cannon and that his actions are handicapping Al Qaeda's efforts, it seems reasonable to expect that an accident may befall him at some point in the near future. If handled right it can be made to look like he went out in a blaze of glory fighting American troops or that he was foully murdered. Either way, al Qaeda gets rid of a problem and gains another "martyr."

Ding-Dong, Zarqawi's Dead

Had a minor case of food-induced insomnia early this morning, so I decided to check the headlines on my mobile phone...

Boy, am I ever glad I chose the rich chicken mole at that mexican restaurant last night for dinner!

ZARQAWI IS DEAD!

GOOD RIDDANCE M---ER F----ER!

WOOHOO!

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system.

Re: The Z

"Smile and be happy, but there is a lot more work to do. First of all, for the OIF Alphabet, we need to find a new "Z.""

Not just yet...

Evidence

Iraq the Model

Al-Maliki explained that Zarqawi (and 7 of his aides) was killed in an air raid in the little town of Hibhib 8 km north of Baquba after receiving tips from residents in the area.

Ministers of Defense, Interior Nominated

Meanwhile:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki, shortly after announcing the death of al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, presented on Thursday his nominees for defence and interior ministers to parliament.

He proposed Jawad al-Bolani, a Shi'ite, as interior minister and General Abdel Qader Jassim, a Sunni and until now Iraqi ground forces commander, as defence minister.

Zarqawi dead - the video

I have the video from CNN here.

One thing to keep in mind - though important - he is just one bite of a very big elephant. Smile and be happy, but there is a lot more work to do. First of all, for the OIF Alphabet, we need to find a new "Z."

The BBC Mourns...

...their fallen hero:

The Jordanian-born leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq was considered the figurehead of the Sunni insurgency.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been blamed for scores of bombings that have killed hundreds of Shias and US forces.

His death does not mean either the Islamist al-Qaeda elements or nationalist fighters will give up, says the BBC News website's world affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds.

Terminated

Statement from Iraq's Prime Minister:

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides Wednesday evening in a house 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala.

“Today, al-Zarqawi was terminated,” al-Maliki told a news conference, drawing loud applause from reporters as he was flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Zarqawi killed

Officials: Al-Qaida in Iraq's al-Zarqawi killed

Official Press Release from MNF-I.

Re: Politicizing The Military

CDR Salamander sent me a-writin'. Jane's Law, cargo cults, Zbigniew, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Skippy, and Ace are somehow all mentioned.

Sale, Garage, Tennessee Model (1 Ea.)

Oh, did I say E-Bay in the comment below? To think I never thought of using my blog for this. That Don feller's smart.

Gone Phishing...

This puts force protection in a different light, doesn't it?

Just sayin'...

USS Cole Sets Sail Once More

The USS Cole sets sail once more, headed back to the Middle East as part of the USS Iwo Jima Strike Group. Here's hoping they sail right close to the shores of Aden for all to see.

Kimberly Dozier Returns to the U.S.

Following treatment for her injuries in a field hospital in Iraq and at Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany, CBS news reporter Kimberly Dozier is back in the USA:

CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier, who was injured in Iraq, returned to the United States Tuesday. Her transport plane landed at Andrews Air Force Base shortly after 4 p.m.

She will be admitted to Bethesda Naval Hospital near Washington.

Kimberly was basically dead when they got her to the military hospital. She had lost 30 pints of blood and had no heartbeat, but somehow those doctors brought her back to life.

There's incredible work being done in the military hospitals in Iraq.

Our best for a speedy recovery for Ms Dozier.