Posted on 05/29/2005 2:03:20 AM PDT by Wiz
ABU Musab al-Zarqawi has long been viewed as the key figure in the insurgency sweeping Iraq. By capturing him it was once thought that the new government would gain control of even the most hostile areas of the country.
But the power struggle to succeed al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq has shown that the organisation is resilient enough to withstand the blow.
Since being wounded last week it has emerged that Iraq's most wanted terrorist has fled the country for emergency surgery after an American air strike left him with shrapnel in his chest.
According to a senior insurgent commander in close contact with Zarqawi, who has a $25m bounty on his head after being blamed for suicide bombings, assassinations and the beheadings of hostages, including Liverpudlian Ken Bigley, he is believed to be in Iran.
He has suffered from bouts of high fever since being wounded as he fled the American offensive near Al-Qaim in northwestern Iraq, the commander said. Although his condition has stabilised, supporters are said to be preparing to move him to another "non-Arab" country for an operation to remove the shrapnel.
The absence of triumphalism in Washington over the shooting of Zarqawi indicates that the US no longer considers that the insurgency can be beaten through the removal of one man.
There were no shortage of candidates vying to take over from Zarqawi.
The power struggle surfaced on the internet, which al-Qaeda uses as its main means of communication and propaganda with a skill surprising for an organisation that wants to return to the purity of the seventh century.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.scotsman.com ...
ping!
You can't tell me they have people that sophisticated that were trained without leaving a paper trail.
Steven Emerson, a terror analyst with the Washington-based Investigative Project and author of the book American Jihad, said: "It's the same as we've seen in Pakistan and Afghanistan - hundreds of millions of dollars in collective rewards for Bin Laden and Zarqawi and others have not produced anything in terms of people coming forward in exchange for money.
Except for Saddam Hussein & Khalid Sheikh Mohammed...and Khalid got ratted out despite the fact that ROJ(Rewards for Justice) was in a sort of state of suspended animation in Pakistan... Aside from that, I wouldn't put much stock in what a 'Washington-based terror analyst' knows about the day-by-day operations in Iraq. I rather doubt that American & Iraqi forces are working without tipsters producing bits of information that lead to these operations. And, I would expect that, what with the Iraqis now in at least quasi-control of their own country & having Iraqi military forces, that the number & quality of tips would be on the upswing.
This article is total bs. There have been several "leaders" who have been removed from the scene. The issue is not the leaders but their effectiveness. The MSM assumes that blowing up civilians is effective when it is not. Currently, all terrorists bombings are in Muslim countries. Is blowing up your own people a sign of an effective terrorist organization whose mission is to destroy the West? In essence, the terrorists are embarked on a war within Islam against other Muslims. Which is as it usually is when they are contained.
Since death is the core of their creed, they must kill, even if it be their own people. Beyond that, I think they have a mental illness that is linked to suicide, and beyond that they are posseessed by demons that also demand death.
Their political crusade in the name of religio is only a way to justify their bloodlust. If we had not taken out Saddam, these people would have been exporting their patholgy to America eventually.
France?
If filling your ranks with carbon-based live targets for the U.S. military = thriving, then yes, Al Qaeda is "thriving" (like roaches).
Did the "US" ever think this?
I know a couple of Thai Dr's who would be interested in getting him under their knives, regardless of the effect to their spirit.
How can anyone see the results of these religious terrorists and yet support them?
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