Posted on 06/27/2005 7:49:04 AM PDT by dead
WASHINGTON - The US military is close to locating al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, General John Abizaid, the commander of US forces in the region, said.
"I think we have a good idea of where to find him," Abizaid told CNN.
"We know what we're doing in our efforts how to get him," he said.
"But I want to also stress that it's not about one man. It's about his network. His network exists inside Iraq. It's connected to al-Qaeda. It's got facilitation nodes in Syria," Abizaid told the US cable news channel.
"It brings foreign fighters in from Saudi Arabia and from North Africa. It is connected to what is happening in Afghanistan and what is happening in Pakistan. It is a global battle that we face," he said.
"The Zarqawi part of the network needs to be taken down. He needs to be captured or killed. But we should understand: It's a long war ahead of us. It's a difficult enemy that we'll have to fight over time throughout the region," the general said.
Jordanian-born Zarqawi, who has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head, is blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in Iraq and is the country's most-wanted man.
Zarqawi warned militants against contacts with the "enemies of God" and dismissed as lies revelations that US officials had been in contact with insurgents in Iraq.
"We are warning anyone who meets the Jewish, the Crusaders and their agents," according to an Internet statement attributed to Zarqawi's al-Qaeda organisation in the Land of Two Rivers.
Abizaid spoke after US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld earlier confirmed a British newspaper report that US officials had contacted insurgents in a bid to stem the violence plaguing Iraq.
"Sure, my goodness, yeah. The first thing you want to do is split people off and get some people to be supportive. The same thing's going on in Afghanistan," Rumsfeld said.
AFP
Since when is General Abizaid an "administration figure"????
___Last time I checked, W was his Commander in Chief.
Oh, I believe that he is actively persuing Zarqawi and is itching to either capture him or get a confirmed kill, however, telling the press that we know where he is is pure bluster. If he knew, Zarqawi would be dead or in custody. If the general thought saying that he knew would flush him out, Zarqawi would know it was bluff and wouldn't rise to the bait (he hasn't stayed alive this long by being stupid).
Are they trying to spook him so they can watch closely the several candidate sites they have, then catch him when he tries to run from the one he's actually in?
Ramsfield said the same thing about bin Laden two years ago, but no result as we see.
kinda like "close, but no cigar".... THIS IS A FALSE TITLE: PLEASE CORRECT IT.
It's incorrect, but it is the title.
LOL
yeah that makes him part of the administration LOL
that means the thousands of PV2s, PFCs and Spec 4s in Iraq are "part of the administration". That is a Hella Big administration LOL
Or maybe his modern major generals. If we made a model out of a few of those, he might just have to surrender.
I think you're more correct on that...there is the point of
reverse psy-ops also....they probably figure, that Al-Z is
gonna trust his lieutenents (sp?) and close aids/spies/scouts, and not listen to public pronouncements anyway...This might be code for "we got most of 'em" so now it's time to take him down, or it may be to make the enemy think we don't really know, but we are doing that to embolden them, but we really know and are waiting for their next move to confirm our suspicions, and them "blam"....
These public pronouncements are really hard to decipher...
Maybe GW is going to tell us tonite that we GOT him............
These announcements we are close to getting Bin Laden or Zarqawi make us look bad...too much talk and not enough results.
I dont know, 25 million might buy those 72 virgins :)
/tongue in cheek humor off
Half of the things he says would seem to have a detrimental effect to their efforts.
I've noticed that, too.
Wouldn't that be nice?
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