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ABU AL-ZARQAWI CONFIRMED DEAD!
  
Jordanian-born terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is seen in these undated photos - the photo at left released in Amman, Jordan, Dec. 14, 2002, the photo at right released by the Department of State September 2004. AP Photo/File
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) 5 minutes ago — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was expected to make an important announcement at a news conference in Baghdad on Thursday amid a report that al-Qaida in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may have been killed.
Al-Maliki adviser Adnan al-Kazimi told The Associated Press there was a report that al-Zarqawi may have been killed late Wednesday in Baghdad. He said he could not confirm the report.
He said al-Maliki was scheduled to shortly give a news conference along with the top U.S. general in Iraq, Gen. George Casey.
Iraqi leader: Al-Zarqawi Is Eliminated
BAGHDAD (Al Jazeera) Thursday 08 June 2006, 11:23 Makka Time, 8:23 GMT
The Iraqi prime minister has announced the killing of al-Qaeda chief in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Nuri al-Maliki announced the killing of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of an organisation known as al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, at a news conference in Baghdad broadcast live by Iraqi state and international media organisations.
He said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides on Wednesday evening in a house 50km northeast of Baghdad, in the province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital, Baquba.
“Today, al-Zarqawi was eliminated,” al-Maliki told a news conference, drawing applause from reporters in the hall where he made the announcement, flanked by Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador, and US General George Casey, the top US commander in Iraq.
He said the air strike was the result of intelligence reports provided to Iraqi security forces by residents in the area, and US forces acted on the information.
“Those who disrupt the course of life, like al-Zarqawi, will have a tragic end,” he said.
General Casey: “Zarqawi positively identified through finger printing, facial recognition and known scars.”
Zarqawi Scheduled for Martyrdom
June 7, 2006: 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.”
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Well that old bogeyman as exhibited by all the western media is dead just as a new governement is finally announced. The self styled experts and so called commentators announce a grave blow to the insurgency, and announce a step forward for Iraq!
Lets conveniently forget that most of the insurgency is nationalistic Iraqi freedom fighters (as they see themslves) who didnt have much time for Al zaq and his foreign mercenanries and who are probably celebrating his death. Maybe they even turned him in. Now they can get on with their busuiness of forcing the foreign occupiers out and overthrowing what they see as a pupet regime without the interference of Al Zaq.
Let’s conveniently forget all the sectarian massacres that the Iraqis will not forget. Let’s conveniently forget all the death squads that the Iraqis will not forget. Let’s conveniently forget the abhorent and murderous outrages of the occupiers that the Iraqis will not forget. Lets just remember the death of one man that the US military and western media claim was virtually the insurgency on his own.
I wonder how the Western media will look back on this minor event in a few months time?
I had a dream last night that this would happen. That’s not as weird as it sounds as I sleep with CNN on my TV, so often dream of breaking news.
But when I did awake to find my dreams confirmed, I got that usual eerie feeling I get when I hear almost any news these days. A feeling mixed with suspicion and unease and a sense that there is more to the story than will ever meet the TV eye.
Tomorrow Bush will emerge from his hole to announce this “major victory”. CNN, FOX & the rest will become one story networks again. The armchair soldiers will pump their fists and drag out the purple foam finger from between the stained & sweaty cushions.
Will the massive crowd who’ve been slowly heading for the tent exits be called back to the center ring of Bush’s three ring circus once more? Will this be portrayed in the media both as a defeat for both the terrorists and the democrats, as if we were rooting for the little terrorist that could. Will any of the shrieking heads on TV care to remind us how we had the chance to take out this mini-Bin Laden in 2002 and blew it?
Zarqawi’s dead. That’s good. As Ted Nugent would say, it’s a good kill. Will it end the violence in Iraq? Will it even slow it, or will it exacerbate it?
Who now will be the last man asked to die for a lie?