Officials Discuss Zarqawi, al Qaeda

Terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a shadowy figure affiliated with al Qaeda who is helping to plan and carry out anti-coalition attacks in Iraq, Defense Department officials said here today.

Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita and Joint Staff Operations spokesman Army Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez said Zarqawi is one of the 10 or 15 most important terrorists for the coalition to kill or capture. The two men spoke during a Pentagon news conference.

Their information follows Army Gen. John Abizaid's revelation that Zarqawi was linked to attacks in Baghdad and Karbala that killed almost more than 100 Shiia pilgrims and wounded more than 500. Abizaid commands the U.S. Central Command.

How Zarqawi fits in the al Qaeda puzzle is a question U.S. officials are trying to work out. He is Jordan-born and has been affiliated with Ansar al-Islam, a terrorist group that has operated in Iraq for years. Zarqawi has known links to al Qaeda.

"The al Qaeda network is a huge puzzle," Rodriguez said. "It's a network that's tough to put all the lines and faces in places. Zarqawi has a long-term affiliation with al Qaeda."

What's more, the tactics, techniques and procedures that the terrorists are using against Iraqis are straight out of the al Qaeda strategy. Abizaid said coalition intelligence pointed to a link between Zarqawi and former regime intelligence officials. Neither DiRita nor Rodriquez would go beyond that statement.

Turning to Haiti, Rodriguez said about 1,000 U.S. Marines are in and around the capital of Port-au-Prince. They have been joined by about 600 troops from Canada, France and Chile. He said the Haitian police are back on the job and handling most law enforcement situations in the capital.

Rodriguez said U.S. Southern Command is working with friends in the region who wish to help the effort. DiRita said the State Department also is speaking to allies about providing troops to stabilize Haiti.

The interim force – which the United States leads – is setting the groundwork for a United Nations Multinational Force. The interim force has a mandate for the next three months.

He could have been taken out some time ago.
Avoiding attacking suspected terrorist mastermind.
Abu Musab Zarqawi blamed for more than 700 killings in Iraq
By Jim Miklaszewski Correspondent NBC News
Updated: 04:14 PM PT March 02, 2004
With Tuesday's attacks, Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant with ties to al_Qaida, is now blamed for more than 700 terrorist killings in Iraq.
But NBC News has learned that long before the war the Bush administration had several chances to wipe out his terrorist operation and perhaps kill Zarqawi himself, but never pulled the trigger.
In June 2002, U.S. officials say intelligence had revealed that Zarqawi and members of al_Qaida had set up a weapons lab at Kirma, in northern Iraq, producing deadly ricin and cyanide.
The Pentagon quickly drafted plans to attack the camp with cruise missiles and air-strikes and sent it to the White House, where, according to U.S. government sources, the plan was debated to death in the National Security Council.
"Here we had targets, we had opportunities, we had a country willing to support casualties, or risk casualties after 9/11 and we still didn't do it," said Michael O'Hanlon, military analyst with the Brookings Institution.
Four months later, intelligence showed Zarqawi was planning to use ricin in terrorist attacks in Europe. The Pentagon drew up a second strike plan, and the White House again killed it. By then the administration had set its course for war with Iraq.
"People were more obsessed with developing the coalition to overthrow Saddam than to execute the president's policy of preemption against terrorists," according to terrorism expert and former National Security Council member Roger Cressey.
In January 2003, the threat turned real. Police in London arrested six terror suspects and discovered a ricin lab connected to the camp in Iraq.
The Pentagon drew up still another attack plan, and for the third time, the National Security Council killed it.
Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi's operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.
The United States did attack the camp at Kirma at the beginning of the war, but it was too late; Zarqawi and many of his followers were gone. "Here's a case where they waited, they waited too long and now we're suffering as a result inside Iraq," Cressey added.
And despite the Bush administration's tough talk about hitting the terrorists before they strike, Zarqawi's killing streak continues today.

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