Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead.

[jaffies]

He was killed in a bombing raid in Bagdad.

more to come.....

[ChumpDumper]

Mission accomplished.

Again, I guess.

[Melmart1]

I have zero credibility in the political forum, so I may as well ruin my anonymity by saying- how convenient that he is dead as the mid-term election races heat up and the president needs a good boost in the polls.

[ChumpDumper]

I think he is dead.

Who gets the $25 million?

[Trainwreck2100]

I think he is dead.

Who gets the $25 million?


the bomb

[jochhejaam]

I have zero credibility in the political forum, so I may as well ruin my anonymity by saying- how convenient that he is dead as the mid-term election races heat up and the president needs a good boost in the polls.
Credibility is not a requirement for posting here Melmart. :lol

I would hope an event that should be viewed as a blow to terrorism woudn't set off partisan political conspiracy rhetoric.

Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi Killed in Air Raid

Jun 8, 6:26 AM (ET)
By PATRICK QUINN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq who led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and kidnappings, has been killed in an air strike, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday, adding that his identity was confirmed by fingerprints and a look at his face. It was a major victory in the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the broader war on terror.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides Wednesday evening in a remote area 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba, al-Maliki said.

Loud applause broke out among the reporters and soldiers as al-Maliki, flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told a news conference that "al-Zarqawi was eliminated."

But any hopes the Jordanian-born terror leader's death would help stem the violence in Iraq were dimmed hours later when a car bomb exploded in a Baghdad market, killing 12 and wounding 65.


The announcement about al-Zarqawi's death came six days after he issued an audiotape on the Internet, railing against Shiites in Iraq and saying militias were raping women and killing Sunnis and the community must fight back.

Al-Maliki said the airstrike was the result of intelligence reports provided to Iraqi security forces by residents in the area, and U.S. forces acted on the information. Casey said the hunt for al-Zarqawi began two weeks ago, and his body was identified by fingerprints and facial recognition.

A Jordanian official said Jordan also provided the U.S. military with information that helped in tracking al-Zarqawi down. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was addressing intelligence issues, would not elaborate, but Jordan is known to have intelligence agents operating in Iraq to hunt down Islamic militants.

Some of the information came from Jordan's sources inside Iraq and led the U.S. military to the area of Baqouba, the official said.

Baqouba has in recent weeks seen a spike in sectarian violence, including the discovery of 17 severed heads in fruit boxes. It was also near the site of a sectarian atrocity last week in which masked gunmen killed 21 Shiites, including a dozen students, after separating out four Sunni Arabs.


"Those who disrupt the course of life, like al-Zarqawi, will have a tragic end," al-Maliki said. He also warned those who would follow the militant's lead that "whenever there is a new al-Zarqawi, we will kill him."

"This is a message for all those who embrace violence, killing and destruction to stop and to (retreat) before it's too late," he said. "It is an open battle with all those who incite sectarianism."

In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said al-Zarqawi's death "was very good news because a blow against al-Qaida in Iraq was a blow against al-Qaida everywhere." Khalilzad added that "the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a huge success for Iraq and the international war on terror." He also gave a thumbs up and said it was a good day for America.

Since his emergence following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Al-Zarqawi had become Iraq's most wanted militant - as notorious as Osama bin Laden, to whom he swore allegiance in 2004. The United States put a $25 million bounty on al-Zarqawi, the same as bin Laden.

His fighters led a wave of kidnappings of foreigners, killing at least a dozen, including Arab diplomats and three Americans. Al-Zarqawi himself is believed to have wielded the knife in the beheadings of two of the Americans - Nicholas Berg and Eugene Armstrong - and earned himself the title of "the slaughtering sheik" among his supporters.


He has also been a master Internet propagandist, spreading the call for Islamic extremists to join the "jihad" or holy war in Iraq. His group posted gruesome images of beheadings, speeches by al-Zarqawi and recruitment videos depicting the planning and execution of its most daring attacks.

While leaders said the killing was a major victory, Iraqi citizens had mixed reactions.

Thamir Abdulhussein, a college student in Baghdad, said he hopes the killing of al-Zarqawi will promote reconciliation between Iraq's fractured ethnic and sectarian groups.

"If it's true al-Zarqawi was killed, that will be a big happiness for all the Iraqis," he said. "He was behind all the killings of Sunni and Shiites. Iraqis should now move toward reconciliation. They should stop the violence."

Amir Muhammed Ali, a 45-year-old stock broker in Baghdad, was skeptical that al-Zarqawi's death would end the unrelenting violence in the country, saying he was a foreigner but the Iraqi resistance to U.S.-led forces would likely continue.

"He didn't represent the resistance, someone will replace him and the operations will go on," he said.

In the past year, he moved his campaign beyond Iraq's borders, claiming to have carried out a Nov. 9, 2005, triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman, Jordan, that killed 60 people, as well as other attacks in Jordan and even a rocket attack from Lebanon into northern Israel.

U.S. forces and their allies came close to capturing al-Zarqawi several times since his campaign began in mid-2003.

His closest brush may have come in late 2004. Deputy Interior Ministry Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal said Iraqi security forces caught al-Zarqawi near the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah but then released him because they didn't realize who he was.

In May 2005, Web statements by his group said al-Zarqawi had been wounded in fighting with Americans and was being treated in a hospital abroad - raising speculation over a successor among his lieutenants. But days later, a statement said al-Zarqawi was fine and had returned to Iraq. There was never any independent confirmation of the reports of his wounding.

U.S. forces believe they just missed capturing al-Zarqawi in a Feb. 20, 2005 raid in which troops closed in on his vehicle west of Baghdad near the Euphrates River. His driver and another associate were captured and al-Zarqawi's computer was seized along with pistols and ammunition.

U.S. troops twice launched massive invasions of Fallujah, the stronghold used by al-Qaida in Iraq fighters and other insurgents west of Baghdad. An April 2004 offensive left the city still in insurgent hands, but the October 2004 assault wrested it from them. However, al-Zarqawi - if he was in the city - escaped.


http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060608/D8I3VN5G0.html

[beachbarbie948]

thank God that guy's finally dead

[JoeChalupa]

Great news for the fight on terrorism!
This news could not come at a better time for the President, the Military and for the general feeling about how things are progressing in Iraq.

Maybe even bring our men and women home earlier.

[DFW Spurs]

Now can we finally get Osama?

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Considering he was one of the top 3-4 terrorists in the world, anyone who discounts this killing is a clown.

Some of his propaganda that he spread was that God was on his side because as hard as we were trying, we couldn't kill him. Hope the jihadis are paying attention.

[CharlieMac]

Bush's fault???

Seriously this is great news. Not for Bush, any other politician, or CNN (who will actually have people tune in for a few hours today), but for the U.S. forces in that shithole that need this as a morale boost. Oh, and because he was kind of responsible for numerous attacks and beheadings. You know, little things like that.

[Nbadan]

This is great, except that Al-Zarqawi has been dead for years.

[boutons_]

Great news.

Will it make any measurable difference in the level of sectarian violence? Probably not.

He targeted US/UK forces, Kurds, the Iraqi police and army, and Shias. We'll see in the next few month if the level of violence keeps increasing or starts decreasing.

[Nbadan]

Just because the W.H. has finally decided Al-Zarqawi should be dead, won't make a bit of difference in the level of violence in Iraq - it will keep increasing. However, it might make a difference in a 'limited' withdrawal scenario the Republicans will soon probably announce. Just wait, it's coming.

[Oh, Gee!!]

This is great, except that Al-Zarqawi has been dead for years.

this is why I keep coming back to ST.com

[Murphy]

I know the death of Al-Zarqawi makes this a sad day for the liberals

[SpursWoman]

This is great, except that Al-Zarqawi has been dead for years.


http://www.boomspeed.com/sweetc/ydoh.gif

[Spurminator]

this is why I keep coming back to ST.com

:lol :tu

[Nbadan]

Al-Zarqawi Lives!! (AGAIN!!) :lol


One official says the Pentagon is not sure of how the death was confirmed and that there might need to be "additional forensics" done before they can be fully confident the terrorist leader is dead.

CNN (http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/08/iraq.al.zarqawi/)

[Nbadan]

In other news, Ahmed Chilabi is still alive..

http://www.liberalconspiracy.com/ChalabiSOTU.jpg

[Nbadan]

If there is every a villian that should be 'zombi-ized' by Mouse it's Al-Zarqawi. This website documents some of Zarqawi's acheivements...


Let’s see…

Lost a leg in 2002 (but US later changed their tune)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FJ15Ak02.html

Killed in March 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29777-2004Mar4.html

Came back to life to personally behead Nick Berg (post-Abu Ghraib photo release)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1136076/posts
(interesting as no one in that video appeared to be handicapped - Zarqawi had one leg amputated)
http://wais.stanford.edu/Individuals/nickberg.htm

Killed again in Oct. 2004
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/10-17a-04.asp

Seriously injured or killed in May 2005
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/10500
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.165740392&par=0

Zarqawi shot in chest/lung in May 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4579885.stm

Killed and body in Falluja cemetery in June 2005
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.173437230&par=0

And now killed again in Nov. 2005

Baghdad imam says Zarqawi killed at beginning of US invasion
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/73570F02-EA07-492F-9E04-C080950DF180.htm

Backed up by this March 2004 article
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4446084/

Here’s his latest picture (he’s on the right)
Zarqawi

CONJUR (http://www.conjur.com/blog/2005/11/20/zarqawis-dead-again-3rd-times-a-charm-eh)

[Vashner]

I have zero credibility in the political forum, so I may as well ruin my anonymity by saying- how convenient that he is dead as the mid-term election races heat up and the president needs a good boost in the polls.

Well since I helped develop the crew systems for the F16... FUCK YOU... on behalf of the USAF..


Some of you haters fucking disgust me.... move to Canada please you loosers.

[Nbadan]

A new level of bullshit, even for Rummy standards...

Rumsfeld - Zarqawi death is win against global terror


BRUSSELS, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hailed on Thursday the death of al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a U.S. air raid in Iraq as a "significant victory" in the battle against terrorism.

Rumsfeld told a news briefing after a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels Zarqawi's death in a U.S. air strike near Baghdad on Wednesday had hurt his network and would slow down its operations.
He called Zarqawi "an integral part of the global war on terror".

"Let there be no doubt the fact that he is dead is a significant victory in the battle against terrorism in that country and I would say worldwide, because he had interests well outside Iraq," he said.

"No single person on this planet has had the blood of more innocent men, women and children on his hands than has Zarqawi."

Alertnet (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08296598.htm)

I guess Rummy doesn't look in the mirror much these days?

[DarkReign]

Yeah, you loosers.

Tighten it up.

[Mr. Peabody]

I heard al-Zarqawi was adopted by a gay married couple early on in life.

[Nbadan]

....yeah, but we've turned another corner in Iraq..

Bush: Zarqawi death may 'turn the tide' in Iraq


WASHINGTON - Under pressure to show progress in Iraq, US President George W. Bush on Thursday hailed the killing of Al-Qaeda's leader there, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as a chance to "turn the tide" of the conflict.

Bush also welcomed the long-awaited completion of Iraq's new government and said he would discuss the future of the US presence there with top US military and diplomatic aides and the Baghdad leadership on Tuesday.

"Zarqawi's death is a severe blow to Al-Qaeda. It's a victory in the global war on terror, and it is an opportunity for Iraq's new government to turn the tide of this struggle," he said in the White House Rose Garden.

The president praised US forces who, acting on intelligence tips from Iraqis, "delivered justice" to Zarqawi in the most dramatic US operation since Saddam Hussein's capture in December 2003.

Turkish Press (http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=127461)

OH well,


But NBC News has learned that long before the war the Bush administration had several chances to wipe out his terrorist operation and perhaps kill Zarqawi himself — but never pulled the trigger.

In June 2002, U.S. officials say intelligence had revealed that Zarqawi and members of al-Qaida had set up a weapons lab at Kirma, in northern Iraq, producing deadly ricin and cyanide.

The Pentagon quickly drafted plans to attack the camp with cruise missiles and airstrikes and sent it to the White House, where, according to U.S. government sources, the plan was debated to death in the National Security Council.
...
The Pentagon drew up a second strike plan, and the White House again killed it. By then the administration had set its course for war with Iraq.

“People were more obsessed with developing the coalition to overthrow Saddam than to execute the president’s policy of preemption against terrorists,” according to terrorism expert and former National Security Council member Roger Cressey.

In January 2003, the threat turned real. Police in London arrested six terror suspects and discovered a ricin lab connected to the camp in Iraq.

The Pentagon drew up still another attack plan, and for the third time, the National Security Council killed it.

MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4431601)

[Gerryatrics]

Poor Nbadan, another hero of his no longer with us.

http://www.foxnews.com/images/207546/26_27_060806_zarqawi_dead.jpg

[Nbadan]

Nice framed pic of a corpse

:lol

No psy-ops here

:lmao

[Gerryatrics]

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/nm/20060608/2006_06_08t105036_450x323_us_iraq_zarqawi_reaction .jpg
http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2006-06-08T134107Z_01_BAG25_RTRIDSP_2_IRAQ_articleimage.jp g
http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/rids/20060608/i/r1158528869.jpg
http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20060608/capt.c588077073e8442a972906d49ed1ce80.iraq_al_zarq awi_bag125.jpg

[JoeChalupa]

I know the death of Al-Zarqawi makes this a sad day for the liberals

Well...there you go again. :rolleyes

This is the same Ann Coultergiest and Sean insHannity crap that I get tired of hearing! :cuss Any liberal or any person that does thinks that way is not my kind of person.

I think it is great news for the war on terror and even Bush acknowledges that this will NOT end terrorsim or future attacks in Iraq. It just isn't so. But it is a blow to Al Queda.

Now let's move on!!!

Semper Fi!!

[Spurminator]

It's good that the political rhetoric in this country has reached a level where even something like this can be devisive.

[IceColdBrewski]

This is a biggie no matter how much the Nbadan's of the world try to minimalize it. Very good news for our soldiers in harms way. This guy had been built up into an Icon of sorts, and he was a master at rallying people around his cause. They can "72 virgin" him all they want, but they know damn well that he's dead as a door nail and they're not far behind him. It's being reported that he was turned in by one of his top brass. Hopefully that leads to a power struggle. Let them thin out their own ranks for a while instead of lopping off the heads of innocent Iraqis.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

This is great, except that Al-Zarqawi has been dead for years.

:lmao


And Dan, who steps up to take the reigns in Iraq? This guy was the motivational leader of the jihad. He had all that street cred about how God was protecting him from the infidels, and then we sniped his ass.

You are one pathetic son of a bitch.

[boutons_]

Same old right wing/red-state/rabble shit.
You people are so fucking stupid and dishonest, it's repugnant.

People who are against the war and want th Repugs out of power do NOT support the enemy.

And those same people may or may not be liberals, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Is that too fucking complicated for you cretins to understand?

Of course it isn't too complicated (except for XZ, GT, vashner), and that's where your dishonesty is on display.

[IceColdBrewski]

Same old right wing/red-state/rabble shit.
You people are so fucking stupid and dishonest, it's repugnant.

People who are against the war and want th Repugs out of power do NOT support the enemy.

And those same people may or may not be liberals, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Is that too fucking complicated for you cretins to understand?

Of course it isn't too complicated (except for XZ, GT, vashner), and that's where your dishonesty is on display.

We know this is a sad day for you buttons, but please try to control your anger.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

http://home.comcast.net/~jay_omega/zarq_1.jpg

:lol


Same old right wing/red-state/rabble shit.
You people are so fucking stupid and dishonest, it's repugnant.

Piss off dickhead. You come on here all the fucking time with your shrub/dickhead bullshit. And you want to lecture about stupidity and honesty? Look in the mirror, pal.




[quote]
People who are against the war and want th Repugs out of power do NOT support the enemy.


We're not talking about people who are against the war. We're talking about people like you and Dan who cry out for a day of mourning every time a jihadiist gets his virgins.



And those same people may or may not be liberals, not that there's anything wrong with that.

To tell you the truth, I'm pretty much 100% centrist/libertarian. Both parties (red and blue) are sucking dick and don't represent the views of the majority of this country. Which is sad, but has been a long time in the making.

Unfortunately, until that time comes when a third party can rise up and challenge the current parties of power, we're stuck choosing the lesser of two evils.

And all things being equal, the Republican party is the lesser of two evils, for a number of reasons IMO, I don't have much time but here's two...

Democrats want to ban firearms from anywhere and everywhere they can. It's a fucking constitutional right for me, as an American, to bear arms. Yet they want to take that away. There's legislation in the UN to ban firearms WORLDWIDE.

The US is infinitely more likely to go along with that bullshit legislation with folks like Hillary in charge than anyone you'll ever see with an R next to their names.

And second is the whole socialist movement among the left. They want everyone taken care of in this country, and it all to be on the taxpayers' dime. Fuck that. Socialism has never worked in world history, and it won't work here in America. All this universal health care shit, Medicare, Medicaid, Social security, it's all a fucking mess and albatross to the citizens of this country.

And all the Dems want to do is expand that. Hell fucking no.



Is that too fucking complicated for you cretins to understand?

Maybe one day when you graduate high school, go out and do some real learning in college and the real world, your perspective will change.

I remember how ignorant I was about the world in HS as well, a lot's changed since then. Hopefully it will for you too, because you've got way too much hatred coarsing through those veins of yours.

[clubalien]

if you saw the movie muinch you would see that after killing 7 of their intended 11 targets all they accomplished was replacing the leadership with more radical leadership.

[xrayzebra]

Same old right wing/red-state/rabble shit.
You people are so fucking stupid and dishonest, it's repugnant.

People who are against the war and want th Repugs out of power do NOT support the enemy.

And those same people may or may not be liberals, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Is that too fucking complicated for you cretins to understand?

Of course it isn't too complicated (except for XZ, GT, vashner), and that's where your dishonesty is on display.

"People who are against the war and want th Repugs out of power do NOT support the enemy."

Well who do you support, boutons?

"Of course it isn't too complicated (except for XZ, GT, vashner), and that's where your dishonesty is on display."

The problem is we do understand people like you. And it
bothers the hell out of you. Nothing dishonest about
calling a liberal a liberal. Cause that is what you are and
will sacrifice your country, your military and your soul to
regain power.

[Trainwreck2100]

Why did they frame that big ass picture

[spursfaninnewmexico]

Why did they frame that big ass picture

Don't stop with the frame, let's have T-shirts!

[Trainwreck2100]

Don't stop with the frame, let's have T-shirts!


http://www.thoseshirts.com/tshirts.html

http://www.ezekielbearsports.com/bbs/images/yahoo/thinking.gif

[Extra Stout]

With al-Zarqawi's death, Democrats are scrambling to find a new running mate for Osama bin Laden in '08.

[Trainwreck2100]

With al-Zarqawi's death, Democrats are scrambling to find a new running mate for Osama bin Laden in '08.



I never got how just because Demos are against Bush they are automatically with the terrorists. I think Hardcore Left/Right wingers are stupid and that Bush is a moron, what does that make me.

[2centsworth]

CNN is pathetic.

[Extra Stout]

I never got how just because Demos are against Bush they are automatically with the terrorists. I think Hardcore Left/Right wingers are stupid and that Bush is a moron, what does that make me.
Bush said it himself, "Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists." And by "us," he meant "me and my neocon buddies." So either you're a neocon or you're a terrorist. That's just the way it has to be in the post-9/11 world.

[Nbadan]

Let's confuse the lines of which side we are all on one more time..


UPDATE: It looks like the Twits might not get that reward money after all. Prime Minister Maliki said that those who helped locate Zarqawi, or someone just like him, in Hibhib, would get their reward later: "We believe in honoring our commitments." However, the (London) Times' man in Iraq, Ned Parker, tells us that Zazqawi might have been shopped to the Americans by Iraqi insurgents:

"One of the most interesting things about the news of his death is the timing. There have been talks going on since the election last December by US and Iraqi officials to try to bring the homegrown insurgency back into the political process. Certainly there was tension between the homegrown Iraqi insurgency and Zarqawi's foreign fighters. So it's possible a deal was finally cut by some branch of the Iraqi insurgency to eliminate al-Zarqawi and rid themselves of his heavy-handed influence."

So if Bush does decide to pay off the informants -- and it's his money, after all, not Maliki's; in fact, in today's Iraq, any money that Maliki's government might still have left after three years of occupation rapine is Bush's money too -- but if Zarqawi's rumblers are paid off, then it's likely that Bush will be forking over $25 million to Iraq's Sunni insurgents. That will certainly keep them flush with IEDs for a long time to come. It's FUBAR every which way you turn in Bush's Babylon.

CounterPunch (http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd06082006.html)

[SPARKY]

http://media.graytvinc.com/images/Rick-Perry.jpg

"Adios, Mofo."

[Nbadan]

The truth is already starting to leak out...

Disbelief in Iraqi hamlet where Zarqawi was killed


HIBHIB, Iraq (Reuters) - Standing on rubble left by the U.S. air raid that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraqis in the village of Hibhib expressed disbelief on Thursday that the al Qaeda leader had been living among them.

"I don't know anything about Abu Musab or anyone else being here," said a teenager who declined to give his name, inspecting blankets amid crushed concrete.

"The Americans have a habit of bombing places and then claiming Zarqawi or others were there."

...

"Zarqawi. Zarqawi. Zarqawi. That's all we hear about. Zarqawi was not here. This home belonged to displaced people," said a village resident, holding up a teddy bear and a child's knapsack buried in the destruction.

Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/08/AR2006060800609.html)

[Spurminator]

This home belonged to displaced people," said a village resident, holding up a teddy bear and a child's knapsack buried in the destruction.

You know, for a skeptic, Dan, you sure do miss some softballs.

[Extra Stout]

You know, for a skeptic, Dan, you sure do miss some softballs.
Denial is one of the early stages of grief.

Don't fret, Dan, there are still plenty of insurgents left to kill U.S. servicemen. Within a day or so, you'll have another report of U.S. troop deaths to lift your spirits.

[CharlieMac]

Same old right wing/red-state/rabble shit.
You people are so fucking stupid and dishonest, it's repugnant.

People who are against the war and want th Repugs out of power do NOT support the enemy.

And those same people may or may not be liberals, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Is that too fucking complicated for you cretins to understand?

Of course it isn't too complicated (except for XZ, GT, vashner), and that's where your dishonesty is on display.

There's no denying that people who claim the left suppots terrorism simply because they're not Bush fans are idiots, but it really doesn't nagate the fact that these are Debbie Downer days for Democratic politicians.

[Nbadan]

You know, for a skeptic, Dan, you sure do miss some softballs.

hummm...I just don't know why I am a skeptic? Maybe it's because ABC News was the first to report Al-Zarqawi's death - I'm surprised it wasn't John Stoussel, or maybe it's because of reports like this...

Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi
Jordanian Painted As Foreign Threat To Iraq's Stability
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 10, 2006; Page A01


The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to internal military documents and officers familiar with the program. The effort has raised his profile in a way that some military intelligence officials believe may have overstated his importance and helped the Bush administration tie the war to the organization responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The documents state that the U.S. campaign aims to turn Iraqis against Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, by playing on their perceived dislike of foreigners. U.S. authorities claim some success with that effort, noting that some tribal Iraqi insurgents have attacked Zarqawi loyalists.

For the past two years, U.S. military leaders have been using Iraqi media and other outlets in Baghdad to publicize Zarqawi's role in the insurgency. The documents explicitly list the "U.S. Home Audience" as one of the targets of a broader propaganda campaign.

Some senior intelligence officers believe Zarqawi's role may have been overemphasized by the propaganda campaign, which has included leaflets, radio and television broadcasts, Internet postings and at least one leak to an American journalist. Although Zarqawi and other foreign insurgents in Iraq have conducted deadly bombing attacks, they remain "a very small part of the actual numbers," Col. Derek Harvey, who served as a military intelligence officer in Iraq and then was one of the top officers handling Iraq intelligence issues on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told an Army meeting at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., last summer.

Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900890.html)

Nothing to see here folks! Move Along!!

:rolleyes

[Extra Stout]

Zarqawi's death: nice.

Liberals looking to dismiss Zarqawi's death: sucky.

Administration officials trying to sell Zarqawi's death as the turning point in Iraq: bullshit.

[ObiwanGinobili]

Now can we finally get Osama?


yeah - what ever happened to that guy?

[JoeChalupa]

I'll vote republican when they pull the chad from my cold dead finger.

[Spurminator]

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/9430/bagdadboblarge5jq.gif


al Zarqawi was not killed here. This place was home to 400 blind orphans. See? I have this teddy bear and knapsack to prove it!

Bad America! Very bad America!

[Spurminator]

Zarqawi's death: nice.

Liberals looking to dismiss Zarqawi's death: sucky.

Administration officials trying to sell Zarqawi's death as the turning point in Iraq: bullshit.

:tu

[Extra Stout]

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/9430/bagdadboblarge5jq.gif


al Zarqawi was not killed here. This place was home to 400 blind orphans. See? I have this teddy bear and knapsack to prove it!

Bad America! Very bad America!
:lol Very nice.

[FromWayDowntown]

Zarqawi's death: nice.

Liberals looking to dismiss Zarqawi's death: sucky.

Administration officials trying to sell Zarqawi's death as the turning point in Iraq: bullshit.

Well put.

[Hook Dem]

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/9430/bagdadboblarge5jq.gif


al Zarqawi was not killed here. This place was home to 400 blind orphans. See? I have this teddy bear and knapsack to prove it!

Bad America! Very bad America!
Insert Dan's picture here and you've got it perfectly! :lol

[jochhejaam]

I heard al-Zarqawi was adopted by a gay married couple early on in life.
And to top it off he was a closet IDer. Who would have thought?

[Nbadan]

Check this out, as previously reported here, it turns out al-Zarqawi had been 'fired' months before he was targeted...

Zarqawi 'sacked for mistakes'
Sunday 02 April 2006


Zarqawi is said to have made many political mistakes

Iraq's resistance has replaced Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as political head of the rebels, the son of Osama bin Laden's mentor has said in Jordan.

Hudayf Azzam, 35, who claims close contacts with the fighters, said on Sunday: "The Iraqi resistance's high command asked Zarqawi to give up his political role and replaced him with an Iraqi, because of several mistakes he made.

"Zarqawi's role has been limited to military action. Zarqawi bowed to the orders two weeks ago and was replaced by Iraqi national Abdullah bin Rashed al-Baghdadi."

English al-Jazeera (http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2B8B878B-D862-4056-B677-E600549C2738.htm)

Kinda makes ya wonder if the U.S. was just emptying OBL's trash again?

[Clandestino]

OMFG! al-jazeera! haha... dan!!! too fucking funny!

[Spurminator]

Yeah, but al Jazeera is no John Stossel...

[Nbadan]

Yeah, but al Jazeera is no John Stossel...

If you had a miseducation you would know that the English al Jazeera news agency is different from the Qatar run al Jazeera.

[Richard Cranium]

I see republicans keeping control of both the House and Senate.

[Spurminator]

If you had a miseducation you would know that the English al Jazeera news agency is different from the Qatar run al Jazeera.

No it's not.

[Jules]

I have zero credibility in the political forum, so I may as well ruin my anonymity by saying- how convenient that he is dead as the mid-term election races heat up and the president needs a good boost in the polls.

No doubt, another strategic move by the Bush Admin.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

If you had a miseducation you would know that the English al Jazeera news agency is different from the Qatar run al Jazeera.

Yeah, one's in english, the other in arabic. Good fucking call. :lol

[snowboarder]

im glad hes dead even though i dont know who the terroist bastard is

[Nbadan]

Yeah, one's in english, the other in arabic. Good fucking call. :lol

Distant cousins if anything. Al Jazeera the arabic station is run by the Emir of Qatar. Al Jazeera international is led by Russell Merryman. Russell originally joined the BBC in 1989 as a broadcast journalist and worked in many areas of output as a reporter, producer, presenter and news editor.

Other British and American journalists and news people working for al Jazeera International include


In September 2005, Josh Rushing joined Al Jazeera International. He was the press officer for the United States Central Command during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, and in that role was featured in the documentary "Control Room." Rushing will be working from the Washington, DC Bureau. He commented that "In a time when American media has become so nationalized, I'm excited about joining an organization that truly wants to be a source of global information..."[6] Former CNN and BBC news anchorwoman and award winning journalist Veronica Pedrosa and veteran UK broadcaster David Frost have also joined the team, along with Riz Khan, a former BBC reporter who most recently was host of the CNN talk show Q&A, CNN producer James Wright, and Kieran Baker, a former editor and producer for CNN who most recently was Acting General Manager, Communications and Public Participation for ICANN.[7][8][9][10] On 2 December 2005, Stephen Cole, a senior anchor on BBC World and Click Online presenter, announced he was joining Al Jazeera International.[11] The network announced on 12 January 2006 that former Nightline correspondent Dave Marash would be the co-anchor from their Washington studio. He described his new position as "the most interesting job on Earth."[9] On 6 February 2006 it was announced that the former BBC reporter Rageh Omaar would host a daily weeknights documentary series, Witness.[12] With Al Jazeera's growing global outreach and influence, some who thought of them as an "alternative media" source have changed their minds.[13]

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera)

[Gerryatrics]

Distant cousins if anything. Al Jazeera the arabic station is run by the Emir of Qatar. Al Jazeera international is led by Russell Merryman. Russell originally joined the BBC in 1989 as a broadcast journalist and worked in many areas of output as a reporter, producer, presenter and news editor.

Other British and American journalists and news people working for al Jazeera International include





From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera):


In addition to its TV channels, Al Jazeera operates Arabic and English-language websites at [1] (http://www.aljazeera.net/) . Its English-language website is at http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage. Aljazeera.com is an unrelated English language website.

Oops...

[Nbadan]

Oops...

So, the American Press can filter its news, right or wrong, through its American news agencies - the AP/UPI, but Al Jazeera International can't do the same because it attracts a mostly Muslim audience in mostly Muslim nations?

Check.

[Gerryatrics]

So, the American Press can filter its news, right or wrong, through its American news agencies - the AP/UPI, but Al Jazeera International can't do the same because it attracts a mostly Muslim audience in mostly Muslim nations?

Check.

So you can lie and/or just make random stuff up, but as soon as somebody calls you out on it you try to paint them as close minded or bigots instead of actually addressing the fact that you were dead wrong?

Check.

[Nbadan]

So you can lie and/or just make random stuff up, but as soon as somebody calls you out on it you try to paint them as close minded or bigots instead of actually addressing the fact that you were dead wrong?

Check.

I've made dozens of legitimate points in this thread and you attempted to attack them using one source, which I pointed out your source has a history of over-reporting human rights abuses in the most democratic countries in which it is allowed to operate. Even the U.S. has protested allegations by Amnesty International. But if you think that you have some small victory because al-Jazeera and al-Jazeera International share the same name, and maybe are somehow distantly related, although you've yet to prove how exactly, go ahead and celebrate your small victory.

[IceColdBrewski]

Give it up dan. You're talking out of your ass and everyone sees it. al-jazeera (English or otherwise) has never done anything for America except to paint us all as a bunch of devils. The fact that you had to stoop to their anti-American slant in an attempt to minimalize the Zarqawi killing is a new low, even by your standards.

[Gerryatrics]

But if you think that you have some small victory because al-Jazeera and al-Jazeera International share the same name, and maybe are somehow distantly related, although you've yet to prove how exactly, go ahead and celebrate your small victory.

They're distantly related insomuch as they are the exact same company with the exact same website with the English version translated into (get this) English. Try taking "english" out of the URL... What's this? al-Jazeera's official website? Oops...

al-Jazeera International is an English language satellite channel owned by al-Jazeera and run from Qatar that isn't even officially up and running yet. Oops...

[Nbadan]

Give it up dan. You're talking out of your ass and everyone sees it. al-jazeera (English or otherwise) has never done anything for America except to paint us all as a bunch of devils. The fact that you had to stoop to their anti-American slant in an attempt to minimalize the Zarqawi killing is a new low, even by your standards.

Well, they show the civilian bodies from our bombs that the American press doesn't show. If that's an anti-american slant to you then it's only because you feel an inherent guilt about what we are doing in Iraq.

I didn't try to minimize the Zarqawi shooting - I merely said that Zarqawi has been dead for a long time. Take that as you may.

[Nbadan]

They're distantly related insomuch as they are the exact same company with the exact same website with the English version translated into (get this) English. Try taking "english" out of the URL... What's this? al-Jazeera's official website? Oops...

With a different news chief and American and British reporters and correspondents, but that too much fact for you.

[Gerryatrics]

With a different news chief and American and British reporters and correspondents, but that too much fact for you.

With a different news chief and American and British reporters and correspondents of a channel that isn't even officially broadcasting yet. That doesn't run it's own website that is only distantly related to al-Jazeera, if at all. That is funded by Qatar's Ministry of Finance (just like al-Jazeera). That the managing director said "will share resources, production facilities and story lists" with al-Jazeera. Is that too much fact for you? Wait, let's face it. Any fact is too much fact for you.

[Nbadan]

With a different news chief and American and British reporters and correspondents of a channel that isn't even officially broadcasting yet.

they are a news agency like the AP. does the AP broadcast?

[Gerryatrics]

they are a news agency like the AP. does the AP broadcast?

Are you serious? english.al-jazeera.net is the English language version of al-Jazeera's website. al-Jazeera International is an English language satellite news channel that is run by al-Jazeera. Where exactly does any of that prove, or even suggest, that you were telling the truth?

http://www.ajicommissioning.net/public/home.aspx


Welcome to Al Jazeera International's commissioning extranet site.

Al Jazeera International is a 24-hour news channel. It also broadcasts thousands of hours of factual programming with detailed features and analysis, documentaries, live debates, current affairs, business and sports.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_International

Al Jazeera International is a 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar. A subsidiary of Al Jazeera, it aims to commence global broadcasting in June 2006.

[Nbadan]

Let's get one thing clear up front: There never was a man whose given name was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who carried out terrorist activities or led terrorist organizations or factions in Iraq. Any person with a passing familiarity with Arab culture and language would immediately recognize that the name, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi cannot be anyone's given name. The words constitute two nicknames, or at best a nom de guerre.

"Abu" is used as a title of respect for a man who has had a son. Arab fathers are given nickames when their sons are born, such as Abu Musab -- "Musab's father." For example, the current Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, goes by the nickname, Abu Mazen -- Mazen's Dad. So Abu Musab simply means, "Musab's Dad."

In addition, "al Zarqawi" is not this person's family name. It refers to the fact that he is from the town of Zarqa in Jordan. Arabs add "i" to the end of a place to say a person is from there, the way we add "er" or "ian" to the end of a place name -- Zarqawi means the guy from Zarqa, just as "New Yorker" means a person from New York or "Bostonian" means a person from Boston.

So the sum total of the mainstream media's identification of this person is "Musab's Dad, the guy from Zarqa."

To say that Abu Musab al Zarqawi does not exist, and never existed, does not mean that there was no Jordanian "terrorist" (or "insurgent" or "foreign fighter" or whatever) who went by this nondescript name. But it shows just how lazy and stupid the main stream media is in picking up and using this information-less non-name. Can you imagine the domestic US media tracking the story of a serial killer on the run, and them identifying the suspect as "Bob's Dad, the guy from the Bronx," and being taken seriously?

The person who was killed yesterday may have been named, Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh, a member of the al-Khalayleh family of the Beni Hassan tribe. But then again, he may not have been. The al-Khalayleh name may also be a pseudonym. We just don't know for sure.

But what we do know is that on April 10, 2006, the Washington Post reported that al-Zarqawi was the subject matter of a US propoganda campaign in Iraq to exaggerate the importance of this person. In internal documents, Gen. Mark Kimmitt stated, "The Zarqawi PSYOP program is the most successful information campaign to date."

Again, this does not mean that there was no Jordanian terrorist active in Iraq, a person probably named al Khalayleh, but it does mean that we really don't know very much about what this person did, how influential he was or even who he was.

We also know that he has been reported killed, reported having his leg amputated, reported having not had his leg amputated, having cut off Nick Berg's head while shouting in a non-Jordanian accent, having barely escaped being arrested, having been incarcerated in Iraq but somehow not identified (maybe the US forces were looking for the non existent al Zarqawi rather than for al-Khalayleh).

I don't know what is true or not true about this person. But what I do know is that "he" (or should I say "it") lived not in the hard reality you and I live in, or even the hard reality that someone like Muqtada as-Sadr lives in, but in a fog of facts and lies and pseudo facts and information and non-information and disinformation -- so much so that the only thing I can say for sure is that he was not exactly whatever you or I thought he was, even if the person behind the mask was as bad a person as the US government says he was.

[Gerryatrics]

So the sum total of the mainstream media's identification of this person is "Musab's Dad, the guy from Zarqa."

No shit, I've been explaining his name to people for a while now. The translation of the name isn't exactly complicated. So how does his nickname having an inane meaning equal him not existing?

[Nbadan]

No shit, I've been explaining his name to people for a while now. The translation of the name isn't exactly complicated. So how does his nickname having an inane meaning equal him not existing?

It doesn't. It just means that Zarqawi may have been more legend that reality based. For whatever reason, the U.S. felt it no longer needed the boogey-man Zarqawi.

[Clandestino]

LOL! fucking dan... comes up with the craziest shit... dan, you must be a terrorist practicing your english on a message board bc the shit you say never makes any sense..

[Extra Stout]

It's interesting to contrast the reactions of foreign critics of the U.S. with that of unhinged domestic lefties:

Foreign critics: "Zarqawi's death is welcome, and will weaken al-Qaeda in Iraq, but the insurgency in Iraq is much, much bigger than just what al-Qaeda is doing, and Zarqawi's death does nothing to change that reality. The U.S. would be foolish to claim a major victory here."

Unhinged domestic lefties: "Oh crap this might give Bush a boost in the polls. This must have been a PSYOPS operation. Zarqawi isn't real or they pulled him out of the freezer. Well if Rove gets indicted hopefully people will forget about this Zarqawi thing."

[Gerryatrics]

there's also

www.aljazeera.com

Which isn't affiliated with the al-Jazeera.

[xrayzebra]

LOL! fucking dan... comes up with the craziest shit... dan, you must be a terrorist practicing your english on a message board bc the shit you say never makes any sense..


Boy are you ever correct. The man didn't exist, well yes he did, but his name
didn't exist. Well it did, but it is two...............

Dan has a short circuit in his tin hat.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Distant cousins if anything. Al Jazeera the arabic station is run by the Emir of Qatar. Al Jazeera international is led by Russell Merryman.

:lol Who gives a fuck who it's run by? It's the same company.

I'm also busting up about the two nuggets of NBADallahism:

1. He's been dead a long time. Riiiiiiiight. We just kept him on ice until we needed some good pub. I suppose we've got bin Laden too and we'll dethaw him right before midterm elections :rolleyes

2. He never existed. Dan, have you been watching the Usual Suspects? Zarqawi = Kaiser Sosei :lmao

[jochhejaam]

Another column from The Toledo Blade's Jack Kelly.

Bad news for al-Qaeda


AT 6:15 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda chieftain in Iraq, was meeting in a nondescript house in Hibhib, a hamlet about five miles northeast of Baquba, with eight of his top aides.

The meeting ended early. Two 500-pound bombs dropped by U.S. Air Force F-16s obliterated the house and killed all inside.

The fighter-bombers were guided there by members of Task Force 145, a team of special operators assembled for the explicit purpose of hunting down the al-Qaeda leadership in Iraq.

TF 145 had been directed to the farmhouse by tips from Iraqi civilians, and by information from interrogations of two al-Qaeda leaders captured in raids in May.

From a purely military standpoint, the loss of his lieutenants probably was a greater blow to al-Qaeda than was the loss of al-Zarqawi himself.

Al-Zarqawi had been targeting Shiite civilians in an effort to provoke a civil war. This was causing dissension with other insurgent groups, and within al-Qaeda itself.

Al-Zarqawi also was straining the alliance of convenience between al-Qaeda and the mullahs in Tehran, who have been supplying insurgents with sophisticated roadside bombs. Sunni extremists and Shiite extremists don't normally get along, but their shared enmity with the United States had caused them to work together.

Al-Zarqawi was jeopardizing this cooperation. Earlier this month he described Hezbollah, the leading Iranian-backed terror group, as a "cover for Israel."

Web logger Michael Totten asked Mohammed Afif, a Hezbollah leader in Lebanon, what he thought of al-Zarqawi's group. "We hate them," Mr. Afif responded. "They call us cockroaches and murder our people."

"Given that Zarqawi has become a loose cannon and his actions are handicapping al-Qaeda's efforts, it seems reasonable to expect that an accident will befall him at some point in the near future," said StrategyPage's Jim Dunnigan in a prescient post on the very day Zarqawi was killed.

But if the loss of al-Zarqawi the man won't hurt al-Qaeda all that much, the loss of al-Zarqawi the legend is devastating. "As he committed atrocity after atrocity, seemingly with impunity, Zarqawi became a mythic figure in part of the world where mythology has vastly more cachet than reality," said former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy.

Al-Zarqawi's death is a huge psychological and political boost to the fledgling Iraqi government. Iraqis danced in the streets. His legendary brutality had made many Iraqis fearful of cooperating with their government. Now that he is dead, what has been a stream of tips could become a river.

Al-Zarqawi's death also sends a message to fence-sitters among Iraq's Sunnis. For those who wish to be on the winning side, it is more clear which side that is.

Though the political benefits are primary, let's not give short shrift to the military benefits. No fighting organization can lose so much of its senior leadership without serious degradation of its performance and morale. The terrorists killed Wednesday can be replaced, but neither quickly nor easily, and the replacements will lack the skill and experience of the deceased.

And things will get worse for al-Qaeda. Thanks to leads from "a treasure trove " of documents recovered from the rubble, Coalition forces launched 17 raids in greater Baghdad Thursday.

News of the demise of the murderous thug was greeted sourly on the left-liberal blogs Democratic Underground and Daily Kos, where posters feared al-Zarqawi's death would boost support for President Bush and the Iraq war.

Much of the news media also viewed al-Zarqawi's death chiefly through the prism of domestic politics. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow clearly was irritated when a reporter asked him Thursday: "Will the Zarqawi success help the President on immigration?"

The capture of Saddam Hussein didn't end the insurgency in Iraq. Killing al-Zarqawi won't either. But it should reduce significantly the bombings and beheadings of civilians. To those of us who think winning the war on terror is more important than embarrassing the President, that's a positive step.

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060610/COLUMNIST14/606100344/-1/COLUMNIST

[Nbadan]

Was Zarqawi a cross-dresser or a leftist?


There were few clues on Zarqawi's extreme ideology or the militant groups he was linked to in the rubble of the building that was pulverised by two 227kg bombs in a US air strike on Wednesday.

One leaflet identified a radio station in Latifiya south of the capital as an apparent target.

A few feet away was a magazine picture of former US president Franklin D Roosevelt.

Also beside the slabs of concrete was a woman's leopard skin nightgown and other skimpy women's clothes.

The US military had said the air strike killed a total of six people, three males and three females.

It said on Friday that a wounded Zarqawi was still alive when US troops reached the site but died shortly afterwards.

Looking over the site where Iraq's most wanted man may have been plotting more suicide bombs, an Iraqi soldier said he felt a great sense of relief.

News24 (http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1949055,00.html)

[xrayzebra]

Okay, here he is. Direct from the wonderful world of Jihad.

Iraq Qaeda names Zarqawi successor
Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:08 AM ET



DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda in Iraq named a successor following the killing of the group's leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to an Internet statement on Monday.

"The shura council of al Qaeda in Iraq unanimously agreed on Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, to be a successor to Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said a statement signed by al Qaeda and posted on a Web site frequently used by Islamist militants.

"Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir is a good brother, has a history in jihad and is knowledgeable. We ask God that he ... continue what Sheikh Abu Musab began," it said.

Muhajir, little known in the West, was not among the names that al Qaeda experts had expected as Zarqawi's likely successor.

[JoeChalupa]

Add the new guy to the most-wanted list and move on!

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Sweet, someone new for target practice.

[Nbadan]

Bush: Zarqawi's successor will be on U.S. 'list'


CAMP DAVID, Md., June 12 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Monday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's successor as al Qaeda's chief in Iraq would be in U.S. sights, signaling the U.S. military would keep targeting insurgent leaders.

Bush was speaking to reporters after convening high-level consultations at the Camp David presidential retreat hoping to capitalize on Zarqawi's death. "I think the successor to Zarqawi is going to be on our list to bring to justice," he said.

Alertnet (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/WAT005804.htm)

They wouldn't have offed al-Zarqawi unless they already had his replacement lined up and ready to go as the next really, really bad-guy - prop him up and turn him into a monster. He will become a household name and the future target of American hatred.

[Nbadan]

al-Masri didn't last long as replacement, according to the same sources that are credited with tracking al-Zarqawi....


Islamic militant, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who is indicated by the US command in Iraq as potential successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, also died in the raid that killed the Jordanian militant, according to intelligence sources in Amman.

The Jordanian security sources, quoted by pan Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat, say given that death the most likely heir as emir of Al-Qaeda in Iraq is now Muhammad Saleh Hasan al-Aqidi. Jordanian intelligence services were fundamental in identifying the exact hideout of Zarqawi.

Link (http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.309451213&par=0)

[sabar]

Seems we have a fan of conspiracy theory.