Posted on 11/20/2005 7:56:48 AM PST by rang1995
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Eight high-ranking al Qaeda leaders blew themselves up after a large American force Sunday noon laid siege to a building in which they were barricaded in Mosul, northern Iraq.
November 20, 2005, 5:19 PM (GMT+02:00)
The US force, backed by helicopters and tanks, was led to the location by an intelligence tip. The troops had evacuated the area and were preparing to storm the building when the terrorists killed themselves.
Some Arab sources report that American unit is now busy trying to identify the 8 bodies, hoping against hope that Abu Musab al Zarqawi is among them. This is not confirmed by US military sources.
My policy is only to toast when we actually blow their heads off.
Okay...okay....this time I'll make an exception.
Somebody call my job and tell them I probably won't make it in tomorrow..
Thanks. Let's keep our fingers crossed and pray this time the speculation turns out to be true. But even if it doesn't, sounds like eight less terrorists are now polluting the world.
I'm very afraid you're right.
The fact that this story has been out there for at least 12 hours (I saw the WP item about that time - it may have been even a lot longer that 12 hours) and it has not yet been denied suggests that it still being checked out.
DoD has recently been quick to squelch rumors of HVT kills/captures. I don't think this time gap means it is true, but rather it is still not determined that he was NOT in that house.
Z has been talkative in recent weeks:
http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/11/new_zarqawi_tra.html
We'll have a pretty good idea by mid week whether he is still among the living.
jmc1969 also makes a good point here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1525620/posts?page=307#307
Oh, I agree. It's certainly not confirmed, but I've seen nothing to suggest the rumor is false.
"Rumor" in common parlance usually suggests grapevine time sources. Based on the AP story on Yahoo here I would think of it now as more a developing unconfirmed story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051120/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
excellent, excellent point; socialists hijacked the word "liberal" long ago.
Makes Saddam look even more like a mangy coward the way he was hiding in his spider hole in filth.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.