As you’ve probably heard already, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been blown up real good by a U.S. air strike. I imagine the murderous son of a bitch was rather surprised when there weren’t any virgins waiting for him at his final destination.
Needless to say, his passing leaves the world no poorer. Rest in pieces.
UPDATE: I’ve been told Maj. Gen. Caldwell just announced that after Zarqawi’s death was confirmed, US and Iraqi forces raided 17 sites which had been under surveilance, resulting in an intelligence ‘treasure trove.’ Smash confirms; I’m assuming he saw the statement on TV. I’ll put up a link when one’s available.
UPDATE UPDATE: Here’s the link. From the story:
Caldwell said they had been focusing on al-Rahman for about a month-and-a-half.
Once they confirmed al-Zarqawi’s death, coalition forces launched 17 simultaneous raids in and around Baghdad.
Caldwell said the coalition identified the targets during the search, but did not raid them sooner because they were focused on al-Zarqawi.
“In those 17 raids last night, a tremendous amount of information and intelligence was collected and is presently being exploited and utilized for further use,” he said. “I mean, it was a treasure trove; no question.”
As far as the situation on the ground is concerned, these raids might be a bigger deal in the long term than planting the Z-Man. The coalition forces should now have a blueprint, complete with names and addresses, of the entire al-Qaeda operation in Iraq and possibly elsewhere.
It’s a good day.
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