Blue Crab Boulevard

Ding, Dong!

He's Really Most Sincerely Dead! Abu Musab al Zarqawi has been killed by a US airstrike after receiving intelligence from locals.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides Wednesday evening in a remote area 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba, al-Maliki said.

Loud applause broke out among the reporters and soldiers as al-Maliki, flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told a news conference that "al-Zarqawi was eliminated."

….

Al-Maliki said the airstrike was the result of intelligence reports provided to Iraqi security forces by residents in the area, and U.S. forces acted on the information. Casey said the hunt for al-Zarqawi began two weeks ago, and his body was identified by fingerprints and facial recognition.

A Jordanian official said Jordan also provided the U.S. military with information that helped in tracking al-Zarqawi down. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was addressing intelligence issues, would not elaborate, but Jordan is known to have intelligence agents operating in Iraq to hunt down Islamic militants.

Some of the information came from Jordan's sources inside Iraq and led the U.S. military to the area of Baqouba, the official said.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari also told The Associated Press that a serious effort had been under way to find al-Zarqawi since he appeared in a videotape in late April — the same week messages were broadcast by bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

He said the location in which al-Zarqawi appeared in the videotape had been "pinpointed," without adding further details.

This is good news. Not only Zarqawi, but a number of his aides eliminated should cause a major disruption in al Qaeda operations. There may actually be somewhat of an increase in violence while they try to prove they are still a power, but if Zarqawi was one of the prime coordinators, the overall effectiveness of the attacks may very well diminish – rapidly.

This is very good news.

UPDATE: Omar at Iraq The Model is very happy indeed. Sarge in the comments section notes that the troops also are quite happy about this.

UPDATE: Strategy Page speculates that this may have been a hit ordered by the insurgents themselves to eliminate a loose cannon while keeping a facade of martyrdom. Possible? Could be.

UPDATE: CentCom just sent me the text of the President's message on Zarqawi:

Statement by the President on Death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Rose Garden
Washington, D.C.

7:31 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Last night in Iraq, United States military
forces killed the terrorist al Zarqawi. At 6:15 p.m. Baghdad time,
special operation forces, acting on tips and intelligence from Iraqis,
confirmed Zarqawi's location, and delivered justice to the most wanted
terrorist in Iraq.

Zarqawi was the operational commander of the terrorist movement in Iraq.
He led a campaign of car bombings, assassinations and suicide attacks
that has taken the lives of many American forces and thousands of
innocent Iraqis. Osama bin Laden called this Jordanian terrorist "the
prince of al Qaeda in Iraq." He called on the terrorists around the
world to listen to him and obey him. Zarqawi personally beheaded
American hostages and other civilians in Iraq. He masterminded the
destruction of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. He was
responsible for the assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan, and
the bombing of a hotel in Amman.

Through his every action, he sought to defeat America and our coalition
partners, and turn Iraq into a safe haven from which al Qaeda could wage
its war on free nations. To achieve these ends, he worked to divide
Iraqis and incite civil war. And only last week he released an audio
tape attacking Iraq's elected leaders, and denouncing those advocating
the end of sectarianism.

Now Zarqawi has met his end, and this violent man will never murder
again. Iraqis can be justly proud of their new government and its early
steps to improve their security. And Americans can be enormously proud
of the men and women of our armed forces, who worked tirelessly with
their Iraqi counterparts to track down this brutal terrorist and put him
out of business.

The operation against Zarqawi was conducted with courage and
professionalism by the finest military in the world. Coalition and Iraqi
forces persevered through years of near misses and false leads, and they
never gave up. Last night their persistence and determination were
rewarded. On behalf of all Americans, I congratulate our troops on this
remarkable achievement.

Zarqawi is dead, but the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq
continues. We can expect the terrorists and insurgents to carry on
without him. We can expect the sectarian violence to continue. Yet the
ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive
leaders.

Zarqawi's death is a severe blow to al Qaeda. It's a victory in the
global war on terror, and it is an opportunity for Iraq's new government
to turn the tide of this struggle. A few minutes ago I spoke to Prime
Minister Maliki. I congratulated him on close collaboration between
coalition and Iraqi forces that helped make this day possible. Iraq's
freely elected Prime Minister is determined to defeat our common enemies
and bring security and the rule of law to all its people.

Earlier this morning he announced the completion of his cabinet
appointments, with the naming of a new Minister of Defense, a new
Minister of the Interior, and a new Minister of State for National
Security. These new ministers are part of a democratic government that
represents all Iraqis. They will play a vital role as the Iraqi
government addresses its top priorities — reconciliation and
reconstruction and putting an end to the kidnappings and beheadings and
suicide bombings that plague the Iraqi people. I assured Prime Minister
Maliki that he will have the full support of the United States of
America.

On Monday I will meet with my national security team and other key
members of my Cabinet at Camp David to discuss the way forward in Iraq.
Our top diplomats and military commanders in Iraq will give me an
assessment of recent changes in the political and economic and security
situation on the ground. On Tuesday, Iraq's new Ambassador to the United
States will join us, and we will have a teleconference discussion with
the Prime Minister and members of his cabinet. Together we will discuss
how to best deploy America's resources in Iraq and achieve our shared
goal of an Iraq that can govern itself, defend itself and sustain
itself.

We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continued
patience of the American people. Yet the developments of the last 24
hours give us renewed confidence in the final outcome of this struggle:
the defeat of terrorism threats, and a more peaceful world for our
children and grandchildren.

May God bless the Iraqi people and may God continue to bless America.

END 7:37 A.M. EDT

War | Gaius June 8, 2006

By Sarge, June 8, 2006 @ 5:56 am

I was in the middle of buying some bootleg movies (don’t judge me; I’m a movie freak and I can’t wait for DVD) when someone hollared out next to me that Zarqawi had been killed by US forces. We all just kind of stared at each other and smiled. This is a huge victory for the war on terror, and a huge relief to those of us on the ground here in Iraq.
By Hurricane Shirley, June 8, 2006 @ 6:22 am

I think the import attached to taking out this key leader of al Qaeda has to do with funding. I think their movement depends on the money their leaders provide. The money trail has been disrupted. Do I have that right?

Conversely, it seems to me that if one of our top U.S. generals were to be “eliminated” it wouldn’t disrupt our fighting efforts. Do I have that wrong?
By Roland Hesz, June 8, 2006 @ 6:28 am

Again?

If he has been killed, some people can feel that justice has been served – he deserved it, no doubt.
But to promote it as a huge victory – a year ago it would had been.
But these days Zarqawi became a minor, almost unimportant figure, no a big shot like he was when the army first killed him.
He had been abandoned by most of his previous followers after attacking sunnis and displaying brutality even his comrades could not accept.

Anyway, I would wait a more, he had been killed too many times in the past…
By Gaius, June 8, 2006 @ 6:30 am

You may indeed have hit it right on the head. They are likely to have had their money and organizational coordination disrupted by this. US forces would simply re-direct around the damage, virtually seamlessly. The difference between cutting the head off a snake versus trying to cut the head off a hydra.
By Gaius, June 8, 2006 @ 6:32 am

I don’t think he was minor, he was an important figure to the terrorists. Losing a big, visible leader is a blow to an underground organiztion.

It sounds pretty definite, Roland.
By Roland Hesz, June 8, 2006 @ 7:47 am

Don’t know.
All the press I read was applauding the event, plus pointing out that “however, his importance has been decreasing since the last summer…”.
It really did, but no worries, as Hurrican pointed out, there will be a new leader soon.
Just look at the talibans.

Also, please note, that the majority of attacks in iraq are not al-Qaida attacks, but religious and sectarian issues, shiite and sunni extremes killing off shiite and sunni people.

That thread won’t be affected by the killing of Zarqawi or even Osama.

But, it’s only an opinion.
By Roland Hesz, June 8, 2006 @ 7:50 am

That smiley icon is too happy.
By Roland Hesz, June 8, 2006 @ 8:19 am

He’s dead.
Good to know
By blogenfreude, June 8, 2006 @ 8:45 am

Good news, but I’m sure they’ve already got his clone ready to go.
By Diva, June 8, 2006 @ 12:31 pm

Roland much of the sectarian violence was fueled and funded by al-qaeda. A few weeks ago he sent out a “memo” encouraging sunnis to slaughter shias, etc. Anyways, al-zarqawi is definately not a minor hit – my husband works at CENTCOM and I can tell you that Zarqawi’s early demise is a very good sign of an imminent demise of al-qaeda funding and fighting in Iraq. As someone metioned earlier in the thread comment – funding was attached to al-zarqawi and it will definately be disrupted.
By Gaius, June 8, 2006 @ 12:47 pm

Hey, Diva, good to have you back.
By Roland Hesz, June 9, 2006 @ 2:56 am

Diva, I am afraid that looking back on the last couple hundred years, Al-quaed funded and fueled already existing and violent sectarian differences.

Ok, lets say Zarqawi was a big hit, and it will take a couple of months for the al-quada to get someone else to the same level, but I don’t think it will stop this war.
By Gaius, June 9, 2006 @ 4:56 am

Roland, you may be overlooking the fact that they may not have another person of his”talents” – such as they were – in their organization.
By Roland Hesz, June 9, 2006 @ 7:34 am

I am afraid, that we of the civilized west, tend to think, that almost everyone living to the west is a primitive goat-herder.

I bet that they can find at least two.

But as the problem in Iraq is not only and exclusively the al-quaeda, but intertribal and interreligious conflicts going back hundreds of years, even if they can’t find anyone half-as good, and al-quaeda drops out of the picture, there still will be a lot of bloodshed until the situation stabilizes.

Just look at Afghanistan.

Sorry, but I can’t be optimistic in this case.
By Gaius, June 9, 2006 @ 7:44 am

Read the post linking to the Iraqi blogger – I think there’s more hope than you realize, Roland.
By Roland Hesz, June 9, 2006 @ 8:21 am

I read a lot of blogs, a lot of newspapers, including non-united states ones.
Also, I studied the history of the region.

I keep my positions, can’t see it as the end of the violence over there.

I’ll be glad if I’ll be proven wrong.