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Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Moment

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 09:22:03 AM EST
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The Sunday Observer reports that Abu Musal al-Zarqawi, the most hunted terrorist in Iraq, may be captured at any moment. The paper says he is in hiding in Kirkuk in Northern Iraq.

He came to Kirkuk from Mosul,' a source in the Kirkuk police department told Reuters yesterday, speaking anonymously. 'There's a possibility that he might be captured at any moment.'

What then? What difference will his capture make? Apparently not much, in terms of the war.

The claims came as British officials poured cold water on hopes of substantial early withdrawal from Iraq, and suggested that Britain could be involved in Iraq for decades. It also followed an increasingly inevitable day of further violence across the country.

'I think there is now a realisation that we underestimated issues such as the level of criminality in Iraq and how that feeds into its instability and feeds its violence,' said one British official last week. 'There is an understanding now that this is a decades-long problem and we will be there for a long time.'

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    Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Moment | 15 comments (15 topical)
    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#1)
    by Che's Lounge on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 09:39:38 AM EST
    AP reports less than 1/3 of polling stations in Mosul ever opened. Thousands of others turned away because they were out of ballots. CNN reports approx 2% voter turnout in Al Anbar province (Falloojah). Sound fair to me. Now over 1600 US deaths in Iraq. Marines report more than half of their casualties occurred in the last 5 months of 2004. The good news? Allawi is a very distant also-ran. Daddy, this is boring. Can we go into Iran now?

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 09:39:56 AM EST
    "What then? What difference will his capture make? Apparently not much, in terms of the war." Is that wishful thinking, TL? As in: "Oh no! Not ANOTHER success for GWB and Co! After all, who cares about the Iraqis; my sensibilities are offended!" What difference will his capture make? I say let's find out. He certailny deserves to be captured.

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 10:15:46 AM EST
    Doctor Ace: What difference will his capture make? I say let's find out. He certailny deserves to be captured. It will probably make as much difference as the capture of Saddam Hussein did. Remember, this is a reality based blog.

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 10:32:51 AM EST
    Amen, he's a bad one all right, and it's high time they got him! Better late than never! NBC News has learned that long before the war the Bush administration had several chances to wipe out his terrorist operation and perhaps kill Zarqawi himself — but never pulled the trigger. This one's my favorite: In January 2003, the threat turned real. Police in London arrested six terror suspects and discovered a ricin lab connected to the camp in Iraq. The Pentagon drew up still another attack plan, and for the third time, the National Security Council killed it. Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam. The United States did attack the camp at Kirma at the beginning of the war, but it was too late — Zarqawi and many of his followers were gone...

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 11:31:30 AM EST
    "It will probably make as much difference as the capture of Saddam Hussein did. Remember, this is a reality based blog." It probably will. And maybe that wasn't much to you, no-name, but it meant a lot to many people in Iraq. Then again, it probably won't. Maybe more. Maybe less. So what then? Sit on your hands? This is, after all, a reality based blog. And what's your point, Web? Shoulda got him then? If you have a better idea, bring it on. Otherwise it's all just so much snark, isn't it...

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 12:37:20 PM EST
    webmacher - Looks like an opinion piece trying to act like a news story.

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 01:01:57 PM EST
    OK, fair enough. The Wall Street Journal covered this story as well on October 25, 2004 (and I can't give the link because it's a pay service behind a login screen):
    Questions Mount Over Failure to Hit Zarqawi's Camp By SCOT J. PALTROW Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL October 25, 2004; Page A3 As the toll of mayhem inspired by terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi mounts in Iraq, some former officials and military officers increasingly wonder whether the Bush administration made a mistake months before the start of the war by stopping the military from attacking his camp in the northeastern part of that country. The Pentagon drew up detailed plans in June 2002, giving the administration a series of options for a military strike on the camp Mr. Zarqawi was running then in remote northeastern Iraq, according to generals who were involved directly in planning the attack and several former White House staffers. They said the camp, near the town of Khurmal, was known to contain Mr. Zarqawi and his supporters as well as al Qaeda fighters, all of whom had fled from Afghanistan. Intelligence indicated the camp was training recruits and making poisons for attacks against the West. Senior Pentagon officials who were involved in planning the attack said that even by spring 2002 Mr. Zarqawi had been identified as a significant terrorist target, based in part on intelligence that the camp he earlier ran in Afghanistan had been attempting to make chemical weapons, and because he was known as the head of a group that was plotting, and training for, attacks against the West. He already was identified as the ringleader in several failed terrorist plots against Israeli and European targets. In addition, by late 2002, while the White House still was deliberating over attacking the camp, Mr. Zarqawi was known to have been behind the October 2002 assassination of a senior American diplomat in Amman, Jordan. [Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi] But the raid on Mr. Zarqawi didn't take place. Months passed with no approval of the plan from the White House, until word came down just weeks before the March 19, 2003, start of the Iraq war that Mr. Bush had rejected any strike on the camp until after an official outbreak of hostilities with Iraq. Ultimately, the camp was hit just after the invasion of Iraq began.
    Look, it's not my job (or your job, for that matter!) to come up with a better idea. It's the job of the Pentagon, and of our elected officials. I'm absolutely thrilled that Zarqawi's days as a free man may be numbered, but these lost opportunities to nab him earlier really bothers me... as does the total lack of willingness to acknowledge any mistakes or do anything different from here on out. It should bother you too. Ace and PJ. It should bother you too.

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 01:24:49 PM EST
    webmacher - " some former officials and military officers increasingly wonder" Look, those are weasel words. What this appears to be is an opinion piece, and as such is interesting. But as a straight news story, it is not. What is left out is the concerns the adminsitration must have had on any action that could effect their efforts at getting support from old europe and other regimes. By the time of the invasion we pretty well knew we could forget about that. I would agree with anyone who would say we were a year late in going after Iraq, and argue that proves the problems of trying to use the UN for any useful purpose.

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 02:23:04 PM EST
    Dear webmacher But I thought that President Bush lied because Iraq didn’t support terrorist? There have been many reports that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was either killed or lost his leg in 2002 by American bombing. Reports that proved to be wrong, but proof that we where after him. I am not sure its true but: Al-Zarqawi reportedly arrested in Iraq

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 03:16:26 PM EST
    PPJ, I wonder, in your statement, "trying to use the UN for any useful purpose", that you see the UN as a tool of war, and not a tool of peace? And I also wonder why "I would agree with anyone who would say we were a year late in going after Iraq". In the pursuit of facts, I have to ask the question as to why it was important to go after Iraq at all. Followed ever so gently with the question of exactly why, in clear and concise terms, did the US invade iraq?

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 03:28:36 PM EST
    Kevin - I see the UN as a corrupt organization that should be completely disbanded and then reformed. As to the arguments of why we invaded Iraq.... If you have not heard every possible variation, both pro and con, then you have obviously been living in a cave for the past two years. BB - That China Daily piece was published on January 5.

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#12)
    by ras on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 04:04:02 PM EST
    Ace, I think you hit the nail on the head - the Left is thinking "oh no, not another success for Bush!" Even in just this thread above we see the contradiction - Bush was bad because he supposedly committed a fiendish error by not taking out Zarqawi previously ... but taking out Zarqawi won't make a diff, either. Can't have it both ways, guys. Will taking him out help> Yip, it sure will, both strategically and symbolically. It won't be the be-all and end-all, but it will be a helluva good step. To repeat: If Kerry had accomplished what Bush has, the Left'd be canonizing him now, and I think you know that, too. Sorry, guys, why don't you just say oops and support democracy instead? Democracy! Woo hoo democracy! Not to bug anyone, but cuz it's true, and some people still need to learn that.

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 04:09:28 PM EST
    Actually PPJ it was posted on 04 Jan 05. Maybe the Saudi Bush connection has been holding him for just over a month, you know for propaganda purposes. Ironic that his mistreatment after his being captured will never result in his death. But any American civilian captured in Iraq has been beheaded and this is considered less offensive by the democrats and the main stream media than seeing a few Moslems in a panty pyramid or some American women laughing at their little wee wee. It reminds me of when President Regan was in office. All I ever heard from the news media was pissing and moaning about what a bad President he was. Fast forward 20 or so years and this same news media with mostly the same news anchors are now talking about what a great President he was. It was like watching Sen. Kerry during the debates searching for that magic word that will win the election for him. “I will do things like Regan did” “I will roll America back to the days of the Clinton administration” he never did find the magic word, because honestly wasn’t in his vocabulary. Being honest will insure trust. Americans vote for who they trust.

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#14)
    by ras on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 04:20:04 PM EST
    BurgerBoy, The more people learned about Kerry and the more they saw him, the more his credibility declined. Look at him now; he goes on Meet The Press and announces that he ran guns to the enemy - and not just any enemy, but the butchers of Cambodia's killing fields. And the reaction? Nothing. Cuz no one, not his opponents and not his supporters, even remotely believes what Kerry says anymore. He's a joke. If Bush had said the same thing, people on all sides would be up in arms, w/q's asked left, right and center: did he act alone?; who gave him the order?; how many weapons?; can we see the pics you took (Kerry even claims to have pics!)? But with Kerry - not a whisper. Not from the Left nor the Right. Kerry's credibility - based on the same all-attack, all-the-time strategy that the Dems are still using, bless their hearts - has left him with credibility of absolute zero. They can criticize Bush if they like, but if he had said he ran guns to the enemy in wartime it'd at least be taken seriously; Kerry is the new definition of rock-bottom.

    Re: Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Mome (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 07:42:24 AM EST
    First, I do not put much credence in "Any Moment" stories about possiblr captures of terror leaeders. Nothing like telegraphing your moves... However, his capture would be blow to the insurgency. Not a death knell, since only the establishment of a Gov't effective enough to meet the population's base needs equitably will do that. Rolling up leaders always hurts recruiting and coordination. It will hit the insurgent movement hard in the short term- how bad in the long run will be determined by who and what we capture along with him.

    Report: al-Zarqawi Could Be Captured Any Moment | 15 comments (15 topical)