Special ops A-Team helped nail Zarqawi

WASHINGTON – When Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaida leader in Iraq, was killed today by 500-pound bombs dropped by two F-16 fighter jets on a house north of Baghdad, it was the result of intelligence information gathered, in part, by an elite task force of international special operations forces formed just a month ago with the express purpose of taking him out.

The decision to form the unit was taken after a top-level conference between U.S. and British defense chiefs in Washington a month ago.

The unit was part of the already-secret Task Force Black run by Britain's MI6 out of coalition forces headquarters in Baghdad. Nicknamed "The Untouchables," it was given a no-holds barred brief in pursuit of Zarqawi in May.

To avoid detection, the team dressed in clothes bought from second-hand stalls in Baghdad's back-street markets. They regularly sprayed themselves with a pungent, sweat-smelling odor known as "souk scent." Each man wore contact lenses that turned their eye color brown or black. The goal was to permit them to look like any other Iraqi peasant as they hunted the most bloodthirsty killer in Iraq.

"The Untouchables" were assured in advance they need fear no investigation into their methods to bring Zarqawi to summary justice.

Though Zarqawi was done in ultimately by massive bombs delivered from high-tech fighters, the unit members were each equipped with L115A-353 sniper rifles that allowed them to kill at 1,000 yards. But the key to the mission was the fact that each made high-risk surveillance operations into normally no-go areas in Iraq.

While officially Israel denies any presence in Iraq, four Mossad assassins were assigned to serve with the unit.

"The Untouchables" also used thermal-imaging equipment to probe the "rat holes" the terror chief used as he flitted around Baghdad and other cities. They also had at their disposal a CIA-operated Predator unmanned aircraft able to provide a real-time video feedback of any area where Zarqawi was spotted.

Zarqawi boasted on his website of beheading innocent victims, including the murders of more than 1,000 British and American soldiers in Iraq over the past two years. Zarqawi also led terrorists that killed thousands of Iraqis through relentless suicide bombings and organized attacks. Many of the bombings were directed at large crowds of Shi'ites under a strategy U.S. and Iraqi officials said was designed to trigger a civil war.

Gen. Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman, Britain's vice chief of the defense staff, had told senior officers in Baghdad that "removing this terrorist will be a massive blow against al-Qaida."

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told a news conference today the big breakthrough that led to Zarqawi's location came while U.S. forces were trailing Zarqawi's spiritual adviser, Sheikh Abdul-Rahman.

"Through painstaking intelligence efforts we were able to start tracking him, monitoring his movements. ... Last night, he went to meet [Zarqawi] again at 6.15 pm when the decision was made to go ahead and strike that target," he added.

Zarqawi came from humble beginnings – a former street thug from Jordan. But he remained elusive despite several U.S. military offensives, a $25 million bounty on his head and the capture of what officials said were several of his aides.

Caldwell said an Egyptian militant trained in Afghanistan named Abu al-Masari, who established the first al-Qaida cell in Baghdad, may succeed Zarqawi as head of the group in Iraq.

"What everyone needs to understand is the strike last night did not occur in a 24-hour period," he said. "It truly was a very long, painstaking, deliberate exploitation of intelligence, information gathering, human sources, electronics, signal intelligence that was done over a period of time, many, many weeks."

There were six people in the house, including a woman and a child, but only Zarqawi and Abdul-Rahman have been identified.

Caldwell said important information was found at the location that led to 17 simultaneous raids later that night in Baghdad and its outskirts that uncovered a "treasure trove" of information.

But he cautioned against being overly optimistic because Zarqawi's followers still posed a threat.

"It's not the beginning or the end but it is a step forward," said Caldwell. "Ridding Iraq of Zarqawi will not instantaneously stop the violence."

In that first picture of him when he was still alive, al-Zarqawi looks really depressed, like he knows what is coming.

[Zarqawi reclining on a couch talking to his Imam/therapist] : "Imam, I just can't shake this feeling of doom. I keep having this dream that I am in heaven making love to 72 virgins--but then, still in the dream, I wake to find that I am hugging a large metal object with fins at one end and a glowing red eye at the other. What does this mean?"

Imam: "Zarqawi, my son, this is nothing to be worried about, the Koran says: Allah is the guardian of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light; and (as to) those who disbelieve, their guardians are Shaitans who take them out of the light into the darkness; they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide. "

Zarqawi: "Uh, OK. But the Americans have night vision. And I think that red thingy on the metal tube might be something like that."

Imam: "Not to worry, you are a great battle leader. The Koran says: Urge the believers to war; if there are twenty patient ones of you they shall overcome two hundred, and if there are a hundred of you they shall overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they are a people who do not understand. "

Zarqawi: "about that... I seem to keep losing my number two guys, and we got a pretty heavy turnover on the numbers 3 and 4, too. And recruiting been down all over the place. I keep cutting people's heads off to show them how serious I am but it doesn't seem to be helping."

Imam: "Have faith! Mohammed assures us, Yea! If you remain patient and are on your guard, and they come upon you in a headlong, your Lord will assist you with five thousand of the havoc-making angles. "

Zarqawi: "Still waiting on the Angels."

Imam: "The Prophet tell us: I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them... "

Zarqawi: "Done that. A lot."

Imam: “Hmmm... give me a second... Aha! here we go. Allah says: And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and Allah will send His wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement. "

Zarqawi: "Uh... that means someone who believes in our cause, right?"

Imam: "It means anyone who accepts the word of the Prophet, the messenger of Allah. Why do you ask?"

Zarqawi: "Well... I, we, might have killed a few believers... at least they said they were... and you know how it is with car bombs and markets. But I'm pretty sure they were all collaborators. You know how women and children can be."

Imam: "Be at ease. The koran says: And do not kill any one whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause, and whoever is slain unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir authority, so let him not exceed the just limits in slaying. "

Zarqawi: "Limits? You never said anything about limits. Just what are we talking about here? I need a number. Not that I'm keeping a count or anything, but I'd like to know. And does that only refer to the heads I whacked myself, or does it include those killed on my orders?"

[Imam's cell phone rings]: "Omar speaking... Really?... Right now?... Yes. Immediately. Thank you."

Zarqawi: "Who was that?"

Imam: "My secretary. It turns out out I'm late for an urgent meeting. I must go. Say five prayers and call me in the morning. No. Don't get up, I'll let myself out."

[Zarqawi calling after the Imam who is sprinting for the door]: "Don't go! I have more questions... I'm still worried about that big red eye in my dream..."

BLAM!

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