Posted on 09/24/2004 6:46:32 AM PDT by marty60
U.S. Creates Task Force to Target Al-Zarqawi
Friday, September 24, 2004
WASHINGTON — U.S. military planners have assembled a special task force charged with finding and neutralizing Jordanian terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search), U.S. officials told FOX News.
Known as Task Force 626, the operation is assembled along the same lines as that of Task Force 121 (search), which searched months before capturing Saddam Hussein and is still hunting Usama bin Laden.
Task Force 626 is smaller than its higher-profile sibling but is similarly made up of CIA operatives, special operations troops from the Navy and the Army, and a handful of investigators.
Members of 626 have fanned out in areas ranging from Baghdad to Fallujah and other areas in the contested al Anbar province in search of al-Zarqawi. While al-Zarqawi is still at large, officials say the task force and other military units have been very successful in eliminating many leaders of his group's leadership.
Many key al-Zarqawi figures have been "whacked," one official told FOX News, citing the missile strike that took out al-Zarqawi's spiritual guide and advisor late last week.
Officials believe they may have taken out as much as half of the members of the senior leadership of al-Zarqawi's group, Tawhid and Jihad (search) — whose name is loosely translated as "Monotheism and Holy War," but they caution that the group harbors many more figures who could rise up and take their places.
Tawhid and Jihad this week claimed responsibility for kidnapping and killing two Americans — Jack Hensley (search) and Eugene Armstrong (search). The group is still holding Briton Kenneth Bigley (search).
Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2004 ComStock, Inc. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright 2004 Fox news
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you've got the name of the game slightly wrong, it should be:
"Whack-a-Mullah"
:)
I was wondering when someone would post this.
Are they sure they have their priorities straight?
He was in Afghanistan when we launched our war to remove the Taliban.
He exists.
Just as Al Zarwahiri and UBL have managed to avoid capture in the no mans land of Pakistan. Al Zarqawi has managed to use the populace of the cities of Iraq to avoid being killed / captured as well.
The CIA seems to think it is the voice of Zarqawi who reads before the beheadings occur. In fact they think it is Zarqawi performing the beheadings.
I will say that prior to the recent beheadings I was beginning to wonder if Zarqawi had either been killed in one of the air strikes that have taken place in Iraq or if he had decided to leave Iraq because we were getting to close.
It now appears he is still there. His days are numbered. How numbered is the question??
your ideas are sound, hope they get the guy who delivers the videos.............
There was posted about a couple weeks ago information about the techniques a millitary commanderused, I believe in the early part of the 20th century, dealing with terrorists. It had to do with pigs blood, etc. Don't want to go into details.
I thought I had bookmarked it and can't find it. Does anybody have access to that article. I think it needs to be posted a "couple" times.
NOW WERE TALKING
GOOD HUNTING BOYS!
What's taking so long???
NO, he should (if he could) announce it 30 minutes BEFORE the debate.
"dirty dozen" exactly....I like the way you think...
It is disturbing that the U.S. announces these kinds of things. Should be quiet about plans. It makes us look weak when we fail to carry out the plans, ala Bin Laden. I can imagine how the jihadis laugh at us.
Yep, the only announcement needed is when they kill or capture him.
Also, do the TF members get to split the $25M?
I would feel a lot more assured about this if the task force assigned to Bin Laden had some announcement.
Excellent. Good hunting, men!
I pray that al-Zarqawi will soon follow where his "spiritual guide" (if that's what you call someone who channels Satan) has gone.
"Why don't they change it to something more appropriate, like Task Force 666?"
Task force 626.
Task force 121.
I want to know what the other 505 task forces are doing?
It is a shame that the courts don't allow creative stuff like this. It would be great.
I don't know. If it were a volunteer based-strategy, and covert at that, I don't know how it could be stopped from being carried out...only if it was unsuccessful, somebody's family might come forward with a lawsuit. Correct.
We had his car identified and might have been tracking him for awhile. We knew where he was comming from and might have had an idea of where he was going to. They may have identified a pattern of movement.
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