Posted on 06/10/2006 8:57:01 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. officials have altered their account of the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, saying he was alive and partly conscious after bombs destroyed his hideout, and an Iraqi man raised fresh questions Saturday about the events surrounding the end of Iraq's most-wanted militant.
The man, who lived near the scene of the bombing, claimed in an interview with AP Television News to have seen U.S. soldiers beating an injured man resembling al-Zarqawi until blood flowed from the man's nose.
When asked about the man's allegations, military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said he would check. In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Jeffrey Gordon said Saturday he was unaware of the claim.
The Iraqi, identified as Mohammed Ahmed, claimed that residents put the man in an ambulance before U.S. forces arrived. The American military team then pulled the man from the ambulance and beat him, Ahmed said. He gave a similar account to The Washington Post.
No other witnesses have come forward to corroborate the account of a man resembling al-Zarqawi being beaten. U.S. officials have only said al-Zarqawi mumbled and tried to roll off a stretcher before dying.
On Friday, the military said al-Zarqawi survived the dropping of two 500-pound bombs on his hideout. The bombs tore a huge crater in the date palm forest where the house was nestled just outside Baqouba, northwest of Baghdad.
Iraqi police reached the scene first, and found the 39-year-old al-Zarqawi alive.
"He mumbled something, but it was indistinguishable and it was very short," Caldwell, a spokesman for U.S.-led forces in Iraq, said Friday.
Iraqi police pulled al-Zarqawi from the flattened home and placed him on a makeshift stretcher. U.S. troops arrived, saw that al-Zarqawi was conscious and tried to provide medical treatment, the spokesman said.
"He obviously had some kind of visual recognition of who they were because he attempted to roll off the stretcher, as I am told, and get away, realizing it was the U.S. military," Caldwell told Pentagon reporters via videoconference from Baghdad.
Al-Zarqawi "attempted to, sort of, turn away off the stretcher," he said. "Everybody re-secured him back onto the stretcher, but he died almost immediately thereafter from the wounds he'd received from this airstrike."
Caldwell has not mentioned any other physical interaction between U.S. troops and al-Zarqawi.
But Ahmed told AP Television News that a bearded man was still alive and was lying next to an irrigation canal. He claimed that U.S. troops wrapped a traditional Arab robe, known as a dishdasha, over the bearded man's head and beat him. His account could not be independently verified.
AP footage of the date palm grove showed debris — concrete blocks, shoes and sandals — scattered over a wide area around a large crater. Date palms were ripped from their roots around the blast site.
So much blood covered al-Zarqawi's body that U.S. forces cleaned him up before taking photographs.
"Despite the fact that this person actually had no regard for human life, we were not going to treat him in the same manner," Caldwell said.
The airstrike killed two other men and three women who were in the house, but only al-Zarqawi and his spiritual adviser have been positively identified, he said.
From a helicopter hovering above, a wide swath of destruction could be seen. The debris around the site included a women's slip and other pieces of clothing. Charred dresses, torn blankets, thin sponge mattresses and pillows were in the crater itself.
The debris of concrete blocks and twisted metal reinforcement bars included a pillow with a floral pattern, sandals and a foam mattress with the covering torn off. A cooling unit and part of a washing machine also were in the area.
Lt. Col. Thomas Fisher of the 1st Battalion, 68th Armored Cavalry said his men showed up at the site about five minutes after the blast and cordoned it off. He said they had a patrol in the area already.
"We didn't know it was Zarqawi, we just knew it was a time-sensitive target," he said at the scene early Saturday. "We suspected who it was."
Caldwell also said experts told him it is not unheard of for people to survive a blast of that magnitude. He said he did not know if al-Zarqawi was inside or outside the house when the bombs struck.
"Well, what we had found, as with anything, first reports are not always fully accurate as we continue the debriefings. But we were not aware yesterday that, in fact, Zarqawi was alive when U.S. forces arrived on the site," Caldwell said.
His recounting of the aftermath of the airstrike could not be independently verified. The Iraqi government confirmed only that Iraqi forces were first on the scene, followed by the Americans.
For three years, al-Zarqawi orchestrated horrific acts of violence guided by his extremist vision of jihad, or holy war — first against the U.S. soldiers he considered occupiers of Arab lands, then against the Shiites he considered infidels.
I think they were wrapping his head in bacon for the broiler before the drop... that's just the chef in me though. s/
It's not the titles, the whole story changed and he used the same URL. In almost all the papers, the other story's gone and is replaced by the new one.
i posted this to the other thread but it accurate tells my feelings.
If the so called witness was living next door to the most wanted terrorists in Iraq and the third most in the world, would it be absurd to believe this witness was anything but neutral.
However, the loony Hate America First Crowd known as the Democrat party would rather take the neighbors word over that of an American soldier.
Personally, I would have taken a knife and slit the pigs throat.
Then as he laid there dying in the dirt filthy with his feces and blood, I would have placed a piece of Hog fat between his sorry lips just before he went to live for all eternity in hell.
GD and I have seen this often, which is why I like to capture whole stories, no excerpts....
No more of this "we will look into it."
But no more of this demonizing our brave heros.
And wasting our military resources by "investigating" BS.
Thanks for the link.
It's a real shame that we have a generation of reporters who think it's better to run down our guys than to accurately report how truly great and heroic these guys are. They represent the best of us.
Yup.
I like to capture whole stories, no excerpts.... Ditto
some here at FR are like little news PackRats of the internet. ;-)
"Personally, I would have taken a knife and slit the pigs throat.
Then as he laid there dying in the dirt filthy with his feces and blood, I would have placed a piece of Hog fat between his sorry lips just before he went to live for all eternity in hell."
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It may not be politically correct, but if all that is respected over there is force it would send a clear message that they messed with the wrong people.
Then they can show the film of Zaqueeri hacking off the head of Nick Berg as he cries for mercy.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Absolutely! The fact that this "neighbor" is saying this is to protect his behind. Read the accounts of the bombing...there were people who sold Zarqawi out...what better way to try to protect himself from terrorists who will be searching to kill those who talked
When dealing with self proclaimed terrorists (murderers)scum you use the most forceful message possible.
Compassion is lost on these people.
I don't consider the president of Iran to be any better than any other terrorists pig.
Dandelions are pretty to some people when they bloom but they sure do mess up a good lawn.
"When dealing with self proclaimed terrorists (murderers)scum you use the most forceful message possible."
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Do you think that one of the reasons we took so few prisoners in the pacific during WWII was the Bataan Death March? The media never reported on how few prisoners we were taking did they?
Excellent observation.
Don't do anything half a$$ed especially if your at war.
No other witnesses have come forward to corroborate the account of a man resembling al-Zarqawi being beaten. "
Yet they print an unverified one-source rumor as an important news story.... No mention of how far this man was from the scene, that maybe he wasnt seeing the action right, maybe it was medical attention. etc
Goodness, if I want *real* journalism, I need "The News of the World" on the supermarket checkout rack, and not this drivel!
Actually, next it will be "they tortured him."
One can only hope....................
Chainsaw his head off?? Oh no, no, no. DULL KNIFE. A chainsaw is way too efficient.............
Well, get ready for it because it's coming.
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