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Iraq
Zarqawi Survived Initial Bombing
2006-06-09
Abu Musab al Zarqawi was alive, even conscious, when coalition forces arrived at the site of the bombing, a U.S. military officer told Fox News Friday morning.
Good, he had time to suffer
Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told Fox & Friends that Iraqi police were the first to arrive on the scene, and they found Zarqawi in the rubble -- the only one to have survived the initial attack. He said Zarqawi even tried to roll off a stretcher at one point, when he realized who his rescuers were.
"Feet, don't fail me....Hey, where are they?"
When U.S. troops arrived on the scene, they recognized Zarqawi, who died "a short time thereafter."
"Rosebud....."
That's all Caldwell said about it. At a military briefing on Thursday, U.S. officials said Zarqawi died in the bombing, although some press reports on Thursday indicated that he lived for a short time after the attack. The confirmation that he lived for a short time follows additional debriefings of troops who were there, Caldwell told Fox News. U.S. military officials were holding another briefing in Baghdad Friday morning.
Posted by:Steve

#33  so... he didn't survive the genus Sus plasma transfusion?
Posted by: 3dc   2006-06-09 22:29  

#32  Rosebud.....
Posted by: Jaiting Chavirt8662   2006-06-09 19:45  

#31  Sheer poetry, Matt. Thank you for posting that.

I don't know what's the matter with me today -- that's made me all weepy.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-06-09 19:36  

#30  The soldier walks up. Zarky look up one last time. Soldiers looks at Zarky points finger like he got a gun and whisper Bang your dead and smiles and Zarky goes to Hell.
Posted by: djohn66   2006-06-09 19:12  

#29  I'm glad he wasn't killed immediately. It gave him the chance to see a US soldier before he died and have one last piss in his pants. In those last few seconds he knew he was a prisoner of the US Army.
Posted by: Apostate   2006-06-09 18:51  

#28  Right On, Matt!

No sense
No feeling
No brains
No headache

"ROSEBUD"


...when Iraqi police got there he was muttering something...
"Hey, it's gettin' awful warm. Where am I going?"
Posted by: BigEd   2006-06-09 18:44  

#27  "Feet, don't fail me....Hey, where are they?"

Ack! Now that darlins is damn cold, crude and damn funny. Sometimes I swear that thisn green one is the worst of the lot.
Posted by: 6   2006-06-09 17:09  

#26  Zarq's last words were "I should have had a V8"
Posted by: FeralCat   2006-06-09 16:57  

#25  I watched some of the briefing this morning. These "reporters" have got to be the lowest form of scum.

The aplumb of the briefing officers amazes me. If I were doing one of these briefings I have no doubt that I would be an E1 shortly thereafter.
Posted by: kelly   2006-06-09 16:16  

#24  "Corrected Link"
Disassembled Safe House pics @ http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/articles/military_photos_200668234813.asp

Not a sausage in sight, though............
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2006-06-09 15:20  

#23  This is up at Blackfive, attributed to a DOD contractor:

We ALL got that SOB.

Some grandmother somewhere in America works in a factory soldering wires to a harness that will connect to a little square box containing a little projection camera for an F-16 Heads Up Display.

A young man or woman a year removed from high school pulled pins from 500lb bombs on a hot desert tarmac.

Another kid in America works in a foundry pouring hot aluminum alloys which will eventually find its way to the compressor stage of the F-100 engine that will power an F-16 from a runway.

Someone in America sang in a church choir on Sunday, and on Monday was holding a rivet gun, helping build another warplane, which will help keep us free.

Some group of brave men in the darkness, shined a little laser beam against a building.

Some geeky American, known for his/her math skills wrote a little program that turns numbers into coordinates.

Some young American decided to become a pilot after watching the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels put on a show.

Some American you or I will never meet, had an idea, which became GPS.

Some kid who last year was dancing at a Prom pulled the chocks.

Some kid wiped the canopy that a year ago was wiping car windshields in their summer job at the local car wash back home.

Someone working in a rubber factory had no idea that his or her work product was tucking itself into its bay as the pilot brought up the gear 20 ft off the deck.

Some little American girl who years ago was all about MTV and CDs gave a vector, cleared hot.

Some pilots did their job.

SHACK, baby.

AMERICA got that son of a bitch.

Every damn one of us.

All I can say is that before he died, I hope it hurt like hell.

This one's for Nick Berg.


Posted by: Matt   2006-06-09 14:39  

#22  Pic of Zark's Safe Crater.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-06-09 14:08  

#21  "I'm not dead . . . I'm getting better . . . I think I'll go for a walk . . . I feel happy, I feel happy--"
Posted by: Mike   2006-06-09 13:52  

#20  His last words were : please, save me, I don't wanna die!
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-06-09 13:11  

#19  At the very least I hope the maced his open wounds.
Posted by: 3dc   2006-06-09 12:43  

#18  FOTSGreg, He should have replied that we shot him with something a bit larger than a rifle, about 488 pounds larger than a rifle X 2.

I only hope he was alert enough for his last vision to be of a dusty, determined, proud American soldier looking into his eyes. So he would completely understand who it was that killed him.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2006-06-09 12:39  

#17  The SOB was a sadist who enjoyed slowly sawing off the heads of victims.

Hope he died slowly, in great pain.

Posted by: john   2006-06-09 12:27  

#16  I hope Zarq was long enough for a medic to check his vitals--the preferred method for terrorists is to put your boot on the neck and feel for a pulse.
Posted by: Dar   2006-06-09 12:18  

#15  Allan be praised, this is NO SHIT!

Upon hearing the approaching 4th ID quick reaction force, the Zarcman threw down a hot schwarma and Pepsi, leaped off the streacher and grabbed an RPK-74 from a young Iraqi soldier.
Three hundred Iraqi army personnel immediately scattered and took cover. Being a very experienced squad machinegunner, Zarcman was unfowling the RPK-74 chamber as US soldiers approached. Repeaded demands to "put down the weapon" were ignored as the Zarcman, with a large knife and one hand and the PPK in the other raised the barrel, screaming "Allan Ak Bar" as he charged the approaching force attempting to fire the jammed weapon. Badly outnumbered by a force of nearly 12,000 infidel US personnel, the rest is history.
Posted by: Besoeker   2006-06-09 12:11  

#14  "He mumbled something, but it was indistinguishable and it was very short," U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said at a news conference.

Maybe it was, "Rosebud"...
Posted by: tu3031   2006-06-09 11:58  

#13  At the briefing, someone asked if he had gotten any medical care. I just pictured the medic saying: "This may hurt a bit - in fact, count on it."

/It's a vile thought, I know. But I like it!
Posted by: Xbalanke   2006-06-09 11:53  

#12  I was so excited to see Zark's pre-mortem bruising and swelling in the picture...he suffered a little, anyway, before awakening in hell. Hardened Iraqi farmhouses sound like part of the old Baathist's underground network. I heard there were 6 total dead, three men and three women, including Zarqawi and al Rahman, and no children. Who were the women? They also went on an additional 39 raids, besides the 17 simultaneous ones at the time of the bombing. I'll bet everybody is scrambling and sweating it out as they have no idea what leads they are following now! The arrests and plots averted in Europe may even be part of this treasure trove....this is sooooo exciting finally to see the evil they plot turned back on their own heads!
Posted by: Danielle   2006-06-09 11:34  

#11  iz he still ded?
Posted by: muck4doo   2006-06-09 11:27  

#10  A Reuters reporter this morning during a Pentagon news brief was asking the General giving the briefing if Zarkie had been shot. He asked the question pointedly and repeatedly despite the General stating that he had no such information.

It was plain to me that the Reuters reporter was trying to intimate that Zarkie had been deliberately executed by US troops or Iraqi police after the bombing failed to kill him outright.

It was outrageous, but somewhat expected from a Reuters reporter IMO.

Posted by: FOTSGreg   2006-06-09 11:20  

#9  What, doesn't everybody walk around with a sausage in their pocket?
Posted by: Michael Moore   2006-06-09 11:08  

#8  Muthra, Kerry, and Ted claiming that his death is a war crime and against the GC in 5... 4... 3..
Posted by: CrazyFool   2006-06-09 10:53  

#7  I would have stuffed a suasage down his throat in the final seconds of his life, with the video phone rolling of course. Send that to Al-Jizz and see if it makes the evening edition.

Not that I walk around with a sausage in my pocket or anything, but you know.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2006-06-09 10:49  

#6  This is such great news. I can't wait to buy a beer for the SF troop who got to stand there and watch his life fade away. Oh this just makes my day. Let's hope ol Binny lives about ten minutes longer when we get him and they capture it on video.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2006-06-09 10:41  

#5  Today's NY Post reported: "Two bombs were used because the safe house had recently been 'reinforced,' an Air Force spokeswoman said"

Also:

"The 500-pound laser- and satellite-guided bombs used in the attack on Zarqawi are considered the most accurate in the Air Force arsenal. They're designed to kill - but not obliterate - and left military forces with Zarqawi's body intact as well as what Caldwell called a 'treasure-trove' of intelligence"
Posted by: growler   2006-06-09 10:02  

#4  Hopefully He's still alive and being interrogated.

Living dead.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2006-06-09 10:00  

#3  
I want to know, did he have one leg, or two?

-M
Posted by: Manolo   2006-06-09 09:58  

#2  Having seen the video of those bombs hitting one is amazed he was even recognizable, let alone alive. Those Iraqi country houses must be a lot tougher than they look.
Posted by: Glenmore   2006-06-09 09:45  

#1  Can these guys carry pigs blood around, for just such an occasion. Splash him a little you know.
Posted by: plainslow   2006-06-09 09:40  

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