Sunday, November 20, 2005
Maybe VERY GOOD news (live-blogging)
There is a report that a gun battle in Mosul has claimed the life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
I’ll keep an eye on this and report back when we find out for sure. Obviously, this is really big deal...this guy is the bin Ladin of Iraq, and killing him would be a huge step in the right direction for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Again, I’ll check back in when I know.
Update: (6:19pm EST) Iraq the Model is following this story as well. Instapundit has an entry.....did I get in on this late?
6:37pm: Here’s a link to Stratfor, and to Michelle Malkin.
6:44pm: A White House spokesman pipes up: White House spokesman Trent Duffy, traveling with President George W. Bush in Asia, said the report was “highly unlikely and not credible.”
7:00pm: American Forces have sealed off the house where the gunfight took place, probably to do some forensic work. Not much new news, though.
7:15pm: Blogging at my in-laws right now, and soon it will be time to go home. Or to my parents. I will come back online at 10:00 or sooner, and update everyone who is tuning in.
8:19pm: BACK! No new news on this, so I’ll check back in over the course of the next two hours or so. Now, if you have info, or commentary on what this might or might not mean, hit up the ‘Comments’ section.
8:46pm: Most people are playing down the death of Zarqawi now....as this Google search shows. I’ll keep an eye out for further details.
9:12pm: LIve-blogging is great with friends like these: STOP THE ACLU!!! IN other news, everyone is still doubting Zarqawi is dead.
9:36pm: Well, we’ve found out why Zarqawi bombed Jordan.....HE WAS TORTURED! Like I spoke of a week or so ago, look for Zarqawi to be protrayed as a victim of this, and that the bombings, while horrendous, might be a little justified. If he is, that would be pathetic. No new news yet. Will stay on the line, though.
10:01pm: It looks like there are some things coming together. The house that is now being investigated by US forensic personnel was pointed out by local inhabitants of Mosul. Near dawn Sunday, US and Iraqi forces surrounded the house, and a gunbattle ensued. For several hours, gunfire was exchanged, and several Iraqi and US miliary personnel were killed and wounded. Eventually, a small team of Iraqi forces made a move to enter the structure, and at least three explosions occurred. The belief is that the persons inside (7 men, one woman) killed themselves to avoid capture. It is not known how many died from the explosions, or from the gun battle. The area is now inder United States control...a lot like the Uday/Qusay situation. I could be wrong, but I have a good feeling about this. We got someone big...if it is Zarqawi, you can click below and read what I think it means to us, Iraq, and the War on Terror.
10:22pm: Paul Krugman has responded....guess what he said? Well, I don’t know, because he’s not worth paying for. But he wants us to pull out immediately. That should be enough to tell us we should stay there as long as it takes.
10:25pm: the UPI says that their reports are not based on what the media is reporting, but what soldiers are saying at the site. I would think that this means that there is some belief by the troops involved that Zarqari was in the house. Maybe the tip was from someone that had given them good info before.
10:32pm: A little something to remember: These things have been reported before. If it isn’t true, don’t be devestated. The White House, as I mentioned before, is still not committing one way or the other, so roll with this ‘wait and see’ deal until we know for sure.
10:52pm: Well, the WaPo found someone to interview that agrees with the bombings in Amman. Now, they’re ‘justified’ in light of the war in Iraq. This didn’t take long, did it?
10:56pm: Just a little question....what happens if we do get the Iraqis through the elections, then slowly pare away at the troops until we have 30,000 or so on a base somewhere...and the experiment works? what if things are in better shape over there than we see it here? What if we stay for another year, let the Iraqis settle into their new government, and then allow them to take it all over? We win, we bring the boys home...and Iraq works? What happens then? Just a thought.
11:04pm: My last entry, as I have to be up for work at 5:45. This article sums up a lot of what we have been hearing. It looks like, as time wears on, that the chances that Zarqawi was kiled are slowly becoming less and less. Again, we will know for sure, and, again, I have a pretty good feeling about it, but time will tell. Another thing I may have been about was that this might have occurred SATURDAY, not SUNDAY. We are still in the ‘fog of war’ period with this situation.....like Uday and Qusay (yeah, I’m mentioning them again, but this is the situation that most resembles this one), so play it by ear until we have hard proof one way or the other. Now, thanks to EVERYONE, especially Stop the ACLU for their posting a link to this thread. GOOD NIGHT! I’ll update tomorrow.
FINAL UPDATE (1:54PM MONDAY): The Counterterrorism Blog has a more-than-likely complete wrap on this. Al Qaeda isn’t fazed, people on the ground are now telling a new story, and even though the targets were killers and homicide bombers, it seems likely that Zarqawi was not among them. I thank everyone that hit the site and read the blogging, and ask you come back early and often.
Well...a little commentary on the subject (UPDATED 9:14pm) while we are waiting: