Al-Zarqawi spoke, then died as US medics tried to save him

The Times ^ | June 10, 2006 | Ned Parker

[MadIvan]

IRAQI police discovered Abu Musab al-Zarqawi alive in the rubble of his bombed safe house, then watched him try to roll off a stretcher before dying, it emerged yesterday.

Announcing his death, US officials said on Thursday that the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq had been found dead after two F16s dropped a pair of 500lb bombs on his safe house in Hibhib, a village in Diyala province 48km (30 miles) northeast of Baghdad.

But Major-General Bill Caldwell said that he had learnt early yesterday that al-Zarqawi had survived the initial airstrikes on his two-floor breeze-block hideout.

“We did, in fact, see him alive,” General Caldwell said. “He mumbled something but it was indistinguishable and it was very short.”

US medics tried to save the life of the most-wanted man in Iraq, but it was too late, General Caldwell added. “Zarqawi attempted to sort of turn away off the stretcher,” he said. “Everybody resecured him back on to the stretcher but he died almost immediately from the wounds he’d received.

“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, realising it was the US military.”

General Caldwell added that the five others killed in the strike on Wednesday night included three women, and not one woman and a child, as the military had said.

Al-Zarqawi’s second wife Israa, in her late teens, and their 18-month-old baby, Abdul Rahman, died in the strike, Jordanian officials told The Times.Israa was the daughter of Yassin Jarrad, a Palestinian Islamic militant, who is blamed for the killing in 2004 of Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim, the Iraqi Shia leader.

Officials also said that Jordan would not allow the body of al-Zarqawi to be buried in his native country.

The Iraqi Government was braced for retaliation, and yesterday imposed a ban on traffic in Baghdad and Diyala province to try to avert an onslaught of suicide attacks and car bombings. US troops stormed 39 suspected insurgent sites in Iraq, further to 17 raids already conducted since al- Zarqawi’s death. Many were driven by information obtained in the hunt for the extremist leader. President Bush, addressing reporters after meeting Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish Prime Minister, at his Camp David retreat in Maryland, said: “I don’t want the American people to think that the war is won with the death of one person.”

Mr Bush, who is scheduled to hold a video conference on Tuesday with the Iraqi leadership, refused to give a timeline for the withdrawal of the 132,000 US troops in Iraq. “I’ve told the American people I’d like to get our troops out as soon as possible, but the definition of ‘as soon as possible’ is depending upon victory in Iraq,” he said.

Ali al-Dabbagh, a Shia politician, said: “We should not be optimistic that the violence will go down dramatically. Zarqawi has spent the past three years in Iraq. He has brainwashed many Iraqis and Arabs and established many cells that operate independently.”

General Caldwell suggested that al-Zarqawi’s likely successor was an Egyptian national, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, whom the radical leader first met in 2001 at a terrorism training camp in Afghanistan. Al-Masri, who has a $50,000 (£27,000) price on his head, is believed have come to Baghdad in 2002 on a mission to set up al-Qaeda’s first cell in Iraq.

Amid speculation over al-Zarqawi’s successor, some Islamist websites pledged allegiance to a man named Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi. He has appeared in previous statements by al-Qaeda in Iraq as al-Zarqawi’s deputy. His name was on a release issued on Thursday by the group confirming al-Zarqawi’s death and vowing to continue his “holy war”.

Violence in Iraq has claimed at least 46 lives since Thursday night and al-Qaeda members in Iraq vowed that the death of their leader would make no difference. “The Americans understand that al-Zarqawi was only one man and there are many others who will carry on what he started,” Abu Majid, an al-Qaeda cell leader in western Baghdad, said.

[MadIvan]

Now that you know the truth, don't let the lefties get away with saying that there was something fishy about Zarqawi's death.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Ping!

[Rapscallion]

I hope it was a painful death.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

He mumbled something but it was indistinguishable and it was very short.

"It burns! It burns!"

[Dumpster Baby]

They couldn't have saved him anyway. The medics don't carry forceps big enough to pull a cinder block out of someone's rectum.

[KittyKares]

I'm glad he was aware that our guys got him.

[doug from upland]

Third al-Zarqawi celebration song -- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1646555/posts

[Morgan in Denver]

One tiny slip and they would have had his brains.......

[Recon Dad]

He mumbled something but it was indistinguishable and it was very short.

"Call Ramsey Clark, please.

[FlingWingFlyer]

The last thing he saw before his lights went out was the American flag. I hope all terrorists can be that lucky.

[nopardons]

bttt

[Popman]

Al-Zarqawi’s second wife Israa, in her late teens, and their 18-month-old baby, Abdul Rahman,

The ROP* POS was married to a young teenager girl?

Not surprised at all, since his his mentor was a pedophile.

[Roscoe Karns]

..
.Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, welcome to Hardball.

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..I want you to tell us what it was like to have two 500-pound bombs dropped on
..your head.

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..But first, let me get your reaction to a breaking story. I'm told that you were heard to have
..mumbled something as you were being carried out from the wreckage. Is that true? Because
..if it is, that's just bizzare! Well, is it? True, I mean?

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..Listen, before we get into that, tell me, do the Iraqi's even want a democracy?
..I've been saying for some time that Iraq is not ready for a full-fledged Jeffersonian
..democracy- it's just not going to happen.--Say, is it me or is it getting warm in here?
..Abu, do you find it warm in here? Well, probably not, considering you practically grew
..up in the desert- Ha! But it's a dry heat over there, isn't it? Good for growing dates. That
..reminds me, Abu, what exactly is the difference between a date and a fig anyways? I've
..always wondered about...

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..Er, Chris?

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..Howard Fineman, my man!

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..I don't think Mr al-Zarqawi can hear you.

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..Right, right...do either of you guys think Bush will get get a boost in
..the polls over this? Abu, you first.

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..Nothing, eh? I hear ya. Well, thanks for coming on the show, Abu, I really
..learned a lot from you.

[tet68]

“The Americans understand that al-Zarqawi was only one man and there are many others who will carry on what he started,” Abu Majid, an al-Qaeda cell leader in western Baghdad, said.

Ahhh, but does Abu Majid understand that we will exterminate
all who "carry on" in his name?

[wizardoz]

Al-Zarqawi’s second wife Israa, in her late teens, and their 18-month-old baby, Abdul Rahman, died in the strike, Jordanian officials told The Times.Israa was the daughter of Yassin Jarrad, a Palestinian Islamic militant,

Poor kid, she was born to be given from one crusty old terrorist to another, used, and then killed.

[downtownconservative]

The good news is that he was briefly conscious, long enough to mentally process who took him out.

[ladyinred]

Thank you my friend! Those nasty American's actually tried to save him did they? Must have wanted more time to torture him I betcha! :-)

[Blue Highway]

I highly doubt he's enjoying those 72 virgins right about now.

[USNBandit]

Al-Masri, who has a $50,000 (£27,000) price on his head, is believed have come to Baghdad in 2002 on a mission to set up al-Qaeda’s first cell in Iraq.

This can't be true. Howard Dean said there was no connection between Al-Queda and Iraq.

[Blue Highway]

I highly doubt he's enjoying those 72 virgins right about now.