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.
Yep, they seem to have increased the rate of deepening that hole they're in. We should give them more shovels.
I said it before:
I hope they only took pictures of his unconscious scumbag body announcing him as dead, then transported him somewhere unknown, nursed him back to health, then inserted liquified pork rinds in one end of his body and kept doing so until valuable intel comes out the other end.
the obvious bruising around the head shown on the picture of his corpse.
---
You ever get hit upside your head by a cinder block, make that a bunch of cinder blocks? Ouch!
He actually looked pretty good considering what was tossed his way.
The sicko Associated Press NEVER lets up.
B.S. The AP or BBC probably paid this guy the equivalent of a years salary to say this garbage on camera.
"Aye, Captain, it was the Krypton what did him in, that's for sure."
..........................."You killed Zarqawi! You bastards!!!"................
The man hasn't been seen since he drove off in his new SUV with the AP logo on it.
Was blood coming out of Nicholas Berg's nose?
Same here :). I think we are very fortunate with our political opponents.
Leopard skin nightie to be exact :-)
God bless the pilot that pushed the buttons that released the bombs that flew through the air that found zarkman that made sure the scumbag got his just reward..
Well damn, Patrick Quinn, your stories changed. And oh, now you use the name Ahmed... who couldn't previously be identified?
Iraqi Claims U.S. GIs Beat Wounded Man (Zarqawi)
Newsday ^ | June 10, 2006 | PATRICK QUINN
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1646765/posts?page=151
My version:
What took them so long?
After the photoshop question at the Snow presser, I expected torture to come up next. The left never fails me.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi man who was one of the first people on the scene of the U.S. airstrike targeting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said he saw American troops beating a man who had a beard like the al-Qaida leader.
-An Iraqi man source... hmmm. A beard like Zarqawis... ok.
The witness, who lives near the house where al-Zarqawi spent his last days, said he saw the man lying on the ground near an irrigation canal. He was badly wounded but still alive, the man told Associated Press Television News.
-Television News?
We all know the AP and Al Reuters/Arabiya only talk to terrorists and wait a minute... I didn't see other houses anywhere near Z's place (unless he lived in the trees). So was his house destroyed? Move along... nothing to see here.
U.S. troops arriving on the scene wrapped the man's head in an Arab robe and began beating him, said the local man, who refused to give his name or show his face to the camera. His account could not be independently verified.
-Couldn't be verified, but good enough to print; Remember when news meant facts?
Wow it's a good thing this witness saw his beard before they covered it with an Arab robe (which we know is standard issue for US troops). Hmmm, no mention of the Iraqi troops getting there first... nevermind.
The U.S. military made no mention of any physical contact between U.S. troops and al-Zarqawi other than an attempt to provide him with medical attention.
-He also said this... further in your article.
"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.
"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.
- Ok, Iraqis at the scene first... again, in the article.
Zarqawi died shortly after the U.S. military obliterated his hideout northwest of Baghdad Wednesday with two 500-pound bombs. The bombs tore a huge crater in the date palm forest where the house was nestled outside the town of Baqouba.
-In the date palm forest where the house was nestled?
Iraqi police pulled him 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.
- Hold on... The "witness" said he was lying on the ground near an irrigation canal; Didn't he also say the US troops got to him and wrapped the guy's head with a beard like Zarqawis with an Arab robe and beat him? Nothing to see here... proceed.
From a helicopter hovering above the site, a wide swath of destruction could be seen. There were no remaining walls in the house, The debris included a skimpy slip in a leopard skin pattern and other see-through pieces of women's clothing. In the crater itself were charred dresses, torn blankets, thin sponge mattresses and pillows.
Also scattered among the debris of concrete blocks was a pillow with a floral pattern, sandals and a bag. There was also a foam mattress, a cooler and part of a washing machine. Green pomegranates hung from a tree left standing nearby.
-Ummm... I saw a collapsed roof, but then again
An aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said he saw Caldwell's news briefing but could neither confirm nor deny that al-Zarqawi briefly survived the blast.
"Well, I think it's clear: The Americans said he was seriously wounded and he died," the aide said.
- Ok, the Caldwell's statements can't be verified either... so that makes him equal to your witness with no name and face. al-Maliki's aide could not confirm or deny.
Wait a minute... so this means the witness is more credible because we can't confirm the blast aftermath, the general or al-Maliki's aide (who they can't identify, but writes as his aide).
AP gets better every day... I want to grow up to be a propagandist... I mean journalist.
Contact these jerks:
http://www.ap.org/pages/sitemap/sitemap.html
Jack Murtha
Here we go. How long before General Pace and President Bush put the "suspect" Americans in the brig while they check on this Iraqi's story?
Boy, no kidding. He DOES know them like "every inch of his glorious naked body"...
BTW...I LOVE it when he uses that expression, because I just KNOW it disgusts and horrifies liberals! The mental image they get must be enough to make themselves throw themselves off of cliffs protected by the Sierra Club...:)
Thanks, I'll check that out in a bit.
He's one ugly bearded lady.
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