Oh come on guys, let's not be silly. Do you think insurgents/Al Qaeda would willingly let go of this guy because of weakness. Hell, if they were weak, shouldn't they have killed him.
There's more to this story then is being let on.
It would appear they wanted their family/clan to live.
Are you suggesting that he was rescued or escaped?
I would not be trusting this Gov. until I reviewed this situation very carefully.
Remember the media report of fighting inside Al-Qaim..and the US military said it wasn't the Marines fighting.......it was no doubt this man's tribe fighting AQ and handing out payback to Zarqawi's crew.
There's more to this story then is being let on.
I'd have to say I might tend to agree with ChicagoRep at this time - Something odd about this - (no reason to release this guy - killing him or letting him go makes of little difference to al Qeade).
I'd speculate that this "governor" is now under extreme "interest" of US Forces - He has been playing both sides if I had to make a guess - (he isn't alive because these thugs are turning weak, he is alive because he is in bed with them in some way or another).
Just my take as of now -
Of course there is. But people want to feel a USA chant moment. The guy made a deal. This is the middle east.
Of course there is.
Since the operation has been announced as officially ended, Zark will claim he released the governor because he was victorious and the Americans left.
I don't even think he was "captured" ---I think he just split rather than answer hard questions from the guys with the amtracs.
In fact an AP story late this last week said the family was told he would be released if there was a trade for three US captured al Qaeda (?) or Zarqawi related terrorist.
I've been researching this aspect and can't find anything. Also wondering right now if the three of the "well dressed men" to took a seriously wounded Zarqawi to the hospital in Ramadi, and throwing American money at the doctor, weren't the four bodyguards of the kidnapped governor who had ro take care of Zarqawi or else the governor would be killed.
According to the doctor, Zarqawi was escorted into Ramadi general hospital by smartly dressed men. “He was bleeding heavily and his escorts were well dressed with a look about them that was different from the casualties and family members we had been receiving from the al-Qaim offensive,” he was quoted as saying.
“I treated his injury and asked that he remain in hospital for further observations and told him that we would have to register him and take down his name and details. But he became very nervous and agitated. He refused and told me he would not be staying.
“The three men with him asked me politely that he be allowed to leave hospital immediately and that I supply them with a prescription and a list of medication that he may need.”
The doctor, who recognised Zarqawi from his photograph on television, followed them to their vehicle to try to convince them that the patient should remain in hospital. At that point, he said, he saw machineguns. They threatened to kill him if he told anyone what he had seen.
They then produced a wad of US dollars to secure his silence. The doctor said that he had refused to take the cash.
From The (London) Sunday Times
Perhaps just a wild scenario but a lot of facts in both instances just don't add up.
I agree. There's likely money involved.
It could just be a group of thugs not even affiliated with al Qaeda jumping on the bandwagon and looking for some easy money. Whether they got paid or not, we don't know. But I couldnt see AQ not taking the chance to kill someone.
There is more to the story. The "more" is the fact that we didn't have to go into Al Qiam itself, because the locals were mad about their gov being taken hostage and the local warlord was helping root out the terrorists in the town.
Without the support from the locals, even by extortion, means the terrorists would have been in much worse shape going forward if they did kill a duly elected official!
This is above my pay-grade, but I say we ARE winning!
There is more to the story, and that's the reason why it's a sign of weakness: the more is very simple, and doesn't require classified intelligence to piece together: blood feud.
This shows that the AQ insurgents
1. believe the governor's clan would launch a blood feud to avenge him, in spite of Koranic injunctions against helping infidels (which could be used as an excuse not to follow tradition, in this case, and launch a blood feud).
2. his clan is powerful enough that a blood vendeta by them added to the pressure from Iraqi government and coalition forces would destroy the insurgency, if not outright, at least to such a degree that it could not hinder the establishment of effective government control in all the provinces.
Thus, not directly, but indirectly, this is a sign of weakness.
I agree with you. Not sure what took place except that a person was kidnapped and is now free. Those guys don't just turn people lose because they are great humanitarians. They got something in return for his release.