Zarqawi is dead, claims Baghdad imam (Washington's bogeyman)

[sabra]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2005/September/focusoniraq_September90.xml§ion=focusoniraq

Zarqawi is dead, claims Baghdad imam
(AFP)

PARIS - Al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, is dead but Washington continues to use him as a bogeyman to justify a prolonged military occupation, an Iraqi Shia cleric said in an interview published here on Friday.

Sheikh Jawad Al Kalesi, the imam of the al-Kazemiya mosque in Baghdad, told Le Monde newspaper: “I don’t think that Abu Musab Al Zarqawi exists as such. He’s simply an invention by the occupiers to divide the people.”

Kalesi claimed that Zarqawi was killed in the Kurdish northern region of Iraq at the beginning of the US-led war on the country as he was meeting with members of the Ansar Al-Islam group affiliated to Al Qaeda.

“His family in Jordan even held a ceremony after his death. Abu Musab Al Zarqawi is therefore a ploy used by the Americans, an excuse to continue the occupation. It’s a pretext so they don’t leave Iraq.”

[MadisonProgressive]

1. You don't say!

[Maple]

2. What, again?

How many times is that now...4, 5...?

[unrepuke]

20. He'll grow another new leg, like Jimmy Axolotl, and be right back. He's

better than Jesus. He's alive. Now he's dead. Now he's alive again!

[arewenotdemo]

35. Better than the old socialist Jeezus, no argument.

But better than NeoCon Jeezus?

[Maine-ah]

51. HAH!

T'is merely a flesh wound.:evilgrin:

[ECH1969]

3. Zarqawi wasn't in Iraq during Operation Viking Hammer

at the start of the war, he was in Iran at that time.

[sabra]

5. Do you think the statement is false in respect to when he was killed

or that fact that he was killed?

[ECH1969]

11. This is about the seventh time this has come up

In one way or another.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4446084/

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.173437230&par=0

A Saudi Imam also swares that Zarqawi died in Afghanistan in 2001 in a bombing.

[sabra]

13. I know. And some believe UBL and Zarqawi are the same person :-)

[yurbud]

42. in the sense that Kermit and miss piggy are the same person?

both fabricated with somebody pulling their strings?

[stellanoir]

4. most of the Iraqi bloggers believe

that the myth of Al Zarqawi is just that.

[Maple]

6. Yeah, Riverbend

said he has been the subject of much discussion, but that no one had ever heard of him before, much less seen him.

An Iraqi 'Robin Hood' or 'Scarlet Pimpernel'

Or maybe even 'Elvis'

[kevsand]

54. More like Keyser Soze. /nt

[BlueJac]

7. He was vacationing in Crawford

[Enraged_Ape]

8. This guy has more lives than Ra's Al-Ghul

I swear he must have some regeneration pit somewhere, because he's died and come back to life at least a half-dozen times, and he's even regenerated limbs. He's a living, breathing comic book villain.

[hippiechick]

9. Didn't he send ABC a videotape within the last week ?

WTF? :shrug:

[acmavm]

10. I read a book once called (if I remember correctly) The Man Who

Never Was.

It was about a corpse that the Allies dropped off the coast of France and let the Germans find. They put fake papers on it to disguise the date and the location of the Allied landing to liberate France. They built a WHOLE BIG ELABORATE, but fictitious, history for this person so that the Germans didn't get suspicious.

Sound familiar?

[Psephos]

15. That's a GREAT little book

It's by Ewan Montagu, published around 1953 or so.

Quite a propos of current events....

Peace.

[rayofreason]

45. the plans...

...were actually for the (fictitious) invasion of Greece to put the Germans off the invasion of Sicily.

[acmavm]

47. You know, you may be right. I was YEARS ago when I read it. For a

while I was into spy books, real and fiction. But still, the story could fit right into today's news coming out of the Middle East. I think we're being scammed like they did back then.

[daleo]

49. I remember that one.

I thought maybe it was about throwing them off the track before the invasion of Sicily, though. Anyway, I remember the bit about sardines.

[Psephos]

12. There's an inverse relation between strong evidence and strong conviction

Zarqawi dead, Zarqawi alive. No irrefutable evidence either way, which means that those who believe him alive are shouting it with force and purple skin into the faces of those who believe him dead, who shout it right back with spittle and popping eyeballs.

Whatever. Time will tell.

Peace.

[jobycom]

18. Yep. And does it even matter?

Someone is setting off bombs. Is it Zarqawi, is it someone else? WHo cares. We shouldn't be there, and until we leave, there will always be an Al-Zarqawi blowing us up, no matter what his name is.

Reminds me of the old line about Homer. What if those poems were really written by a different blind poet named Homer?

[Village Idiot]

14. Emmanuel Goldstein and the continuing war against Oceania...

or perhaps Eurasia?

[genius]

17. Right

[genius]

16. What was it they used to say about the ruler of Spain on SNL?

Zarqawi, if he existed, has been dead for years.

[feminazi]

30. I believe it was Chevy Chase's line on the SNL news report

Something to the effect..."and Generalisimo Francisco Franco is still dead!"

[kevsand]

53. Occasionally as a separate story,

preceded by the line: "This just in!"

[splat@14]

19. OK, I'm confused. Is he the #2 guy or #3 guy again?

[0007]

29. Please! He an aide of the higher order according to Rummy.

[radwriter0555]

21. Next thing you know, some moron will say OBL is dead too. Oh wait,

that was ME who said (1) Zarqawi is dead and (2) Osama is dead for almost 4 years now.

Hmmmm.

[hatrack]

22. Time to thaw the Osama-sicle

And brandish it in a menacing manner - TERROR!! TERROR!! TERROR!!

[AlCzervik]

23. of course this will get 0 play in our media

[jumpoffdaplanet]

24. I've said that for some time now

I can't remember where I'd read of his death, but I think it was here at DU a long time ago.

I've been surprised whenever he is mentioned as a leader of anything.

I hope it finally comes out his name is being used, has been used, and that people realize they are being used by this administration.

[AlCzervik]

25. yes, we've all pretty much said it-"the one legged dead guy strikes again"

[mike923]

26. Likewise....

I think Osama has been dead since November of 2001. It doesn't do Bush any good to let the public know the head bad guys are dead. It would swing the average mom and pop in middle America to call for the end of the "war" on terror.

[yurbud]

27. "He aint dead till I say so!" W

[underpants]

33. Actually- W (& Co.) has even gotten THAT wrong

Some Evidence Suggests Saddam Dead: Bush
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 25, 2003
http://english.people.com.cn/200304/25/eng20030425_115783.shtml
US President Bush said in a television interview Thursday that there is some evidence suggesting Saddam Hussein is either dead or "at the very minimum was severely wounded." Bush also said US troops would remain in Iraq "as long as necessary."

DNA tests after missiles strike 'Saddam convoy'
Sunday June 22, 2003
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,982710,00.html
American specialists were carrying out DNA tests last night on human remains believed by US military sources to be those of Saddam Hussein and one of his sons, The Observer can reveal.

Officials suspect Saddam was killed in bombing
Posted 4/10/2003
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-04-10-saddam-usat_x.htm
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence has no clear information on Saddam Hussein's whereabouts, but the betting in the Pentagon's executive offices is that the Iraqi dictator lies dead under a pile of rubble in Baghdad, according to defense and intelligence officials.

But the theory given most credence is that Saddam died in Monday's bomber attack on a home near a Baghdad restaurant.
"The official take from the Pentagon is that Saddam is 'unfound,' " a senior defense intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. "Most along the E-Ring (the Pentagon's outermost hallway and executive suite) think he's under the rubble."
A Defense Department intelligence official said an abrupt end to an electronic intelligence intercept of Iraqi leadership conversations indicated that Saddam and his sons were at the site at the time of the bombing.
"The signal died when the bombs hit," the official said.

Saddam Captured 'Like a Rat' in Raid
Sunday, December 14, 2003
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,105706,00.html

Saddam Hussein arrested in Iraq
Sunday, 14 December, 2003, 17:04 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3317429.stm
______________________________________________________________
Pentagon: 'Chemical Ali' Killed in Attack
Tuesday, April 8, 2003
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/4/7/204930.shtml

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon believes "Chemical Ali," Saddam Hussein's cousin who ordered a chemical attack on Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988, is dead, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld confirmed Monday.

'Chemical Ali' reported dead
Monday, 7 April, 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2925375.stm


Officials: Body of 'Chemical Ali' Found in Basra
Monday, April 07, 2003
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,83383,00.html


'Chemical Ali' Captured in Iraq
Thursday, August 21, 2003
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95314,00.html

[Robeson]

28. Yes but he has several clones with an extra leg running around....

...and they are tricky...

[0rganism]

31. Now you've got me thinking "Army of Darkness"

All these tiny little Zarqawis chasing the big Zarqawi around inside a delapidated Baghdad windmill...

[frictionlessO]

32. A Shia cleric said that?!? Why does this trip up my absorption lines...

I need to think on this some more.. and maybe research this particular cleric. The Z myth has been a poster boy for many Shia to flog, if more than a few feel that he is an assumed legend on the part of one of our intelligence services we are truly and clearly fucked by what we are now... cubed.

[against all enemies]

34. War's over. Next!!

[Spinzonner]

36. Mark Twain comes to mind ...

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated"

[Career Prole]

37. Relief supplies needed: one temporary morgue and 5,000 body bags.

All these dead Zarqawis are starting to get underfoot!

[Ignacio Upton]

38. This is the 4th time he's "died", right?

Or was it the 3rd? I lost count a while ago.

[Kralizec]

39. Create an enemy to evoke fear in the people. PowerGrabbing 101. n/t

[malaise]

40. We said that ages ago.

And it's no different with Osama.

[Az_lefty]

41. uh oh, cat's out of the bag n/t

[NYC]

43. It really doesn't matter. He'll be resurrected soon.

As soon as we need to capture him, he'll be alive again. Only the number of legs varies, possibly according to season.

[submerged99]

44. Yeah, and they are always catching his top aid, lieutenant, commander etc.

Not only does Zarqawi have the ability to resurrect himself, he also has an infinite number of top aides as the military is always announcing the capture of a "top Zarqawi aid, commander, general, lieutenant, etc."

[LisaL]

46. How many times has he died now?

[tinfoilinfor2005]

48. Yawn. Tell me next time he dies. I'm too tired tonight to care

about yet another report of his demise.

[stickdog]

50. Code Name: Starfish

Don't be silly. The man can obviously both rise from the dead and grow back limbs at will. That's what makes him such an evil adversary.

[klyon]

52. This all makes me wonder if this is not all one big CIA operation?

There was a movie long ago where an inner secret CIA operation was fight against anther CIA operation and creating the international situation. Terrorism is made up...... is that possible? Nobody hates our freedoms?

KL

[SlavesandBulldozers]

55. YAY WE WON THE WAR ON IRAQ!!!!

hooray!!! finally! it was a lot of hard work, but we are now triumphant!! i suppose it's time for a parade and some smooching in Times Square?