MyDD: Media Finally Sees Through Bush's 'Number 2 Man' Myth

[RSchewe]

by Scott Shields

Ever notice how many times the Bush administration and the Pentagon tout the killing or capture of high level al Qaeda operatives? Just how many 'Number 2,' 'Number 3,' and 'Number 4' men can bin Laden and Zarqawi possibly have, anyway? I know, I know. It's an old joke. But while we may realize that, the media has seemed completely incapable of recognizing that maybe not every al Qaeda figure we eliminate is as important as the administration claims he is.

In an online-only piece for Newsweek, Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball delve into the claim that Abu Azzam, a terrorist recently killed in Iraq, was Zarawi's number two man. Speaking in the Rose Garden this morning, Bush made just such a claim.

...Iraqi and coalition forces tracked down and killed Abu Azzam, the second most wanted al Qaeda leader in Iraq. This guy is a brutal killer. He was one of Zarqawi's top lieutenants. He was reported to be the top operational commander of al Qaeda in Baghdad. He is one of the terrorists responsible for the recent upsurge in attacks in the Iraqi capital...

Isikoff and Hosenball ran down the information and found that's not really the case. Abu Azzam may have been important, especially in Baghdad, but there are serious holes in the claim that he was anywhere close to being second in command for all of Iraq.

But veteran counterterrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann said today there are ample reasons to question whether Abu Azzam was really the No. 2 figure in the Iraqi insurgency. He noted that U.S. officials have made similar claims about a string of purportedly high-ranking terrorist operatives who had been captured or killed in the past, even though these alleged successes made no discernible dent in the intensity of the insurgency.

"If I had a nickel for every No. 2 and No. 3 they've arrested or killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, I'd be a millionaire," says Kohlmann, a New York-based analyst who tracks the Iraq insurgency and who first expressed skepticism about the Azzam claims in a posting on The Counterterrorism Blog (counterterror.typepad.com). While agreeing that Azzam--also known as Abdullah Najim Abdullah Mohamed al-Jawari--may have been an important figure, "this guy was not the deputy commander of Al Qaeda," says Kohlmann.

Three U.S. counterterrorism officials, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject, also told NEWSWEEK today that U.S. agencies did not really consider Abu Azzam to be Zarqawi's "deputy" even if he did play a relatively high-ranking role in the insurgency.

(emphasis added)

more...


http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/9/29/097/73029

[charlie]

1. Who knew

Al Qaeda suffered from corporate managerial bloat? So many Vice Presidents on the payroll! Osama needs to take his ass to a good business seminar and get to reworking that organizational chart pronto, or a faster, nimbler terrorist upstart is going to cut into his market share.

[izzie]

2. So I have been saying this all a long.

Every No. 2 they get I feel ever so much safer. Now do face that, your must also. This GOP treats us all like 'their base', as if we did not have a brain in out heads. I wonder if any of this 'base' has once thought what they would do if Iraq took over their county? Would they be killed if they fought back? Hardly seems fair. :crazy:

[leftchick]

3. yeah well...

will this be on TV for joe and jill six pack to see? The impression that bush is killing terrists is still there for them.

[beingthere]

4. yeah, i've been wondering

if they'll go to numbers 2.5 and 3.5

[mandyky]

5. Just like the Mythological 3/4 of Al Qiada

They have rounded up. They have no idea, so they just make up statistics like this, while they downplay casualties.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Wow we have been saying this for how long here at lowly

DU... hey Mr Issikof start readying this place, you MIGHT learn something

[unblock]

7. actually, there IS truth to this.

the key point is that as soon as any "number 2" guy is killed, another moves up. this is what the anti-war-on-terror has been saying all along. you can't destroy al qaeda while simultaneously supporting their own recruiting efforts. all you do is cause a bit of shuffle, but the organization remains.

the mob-busters figured this out, and developed better tactics. but then, the war on terror isn't about actually winning, anyway; it's all a thin disguise for a massive government handout for bush cronies in the defense industry....

[Ian David]

8. We've captured a lot of Osama's "Liutenants"...

We've captured a lot of people who are "equivalent to a "Lieutenant."

Why haven't they announced, "We've captured an Alqueda Operative who is the equivalent of a Sergeant First Class." Or maybe, "We've captured Osama Bin Laden's 'Chief Petty Officer.'"