November 20, 2005
Breaking News
The unconfirmed report claimed that the explosions occurred while coalition forces surrounded the house in which al-Zarqawi was hiding. American and Iraqi forces are looking into the report.
H/T Daily Intel Briefing Kilo Echo 4
Update, Iraq The Model is also reporting this, read the 100+ comments too.
Update 2, Yahoo news
Update 3, Dr. Sanity has more including a spanky photo.
Posted by GM Roper at November 20, 2005 05:05 PM | TrackBackAt this time, DEBKAfile is more cautious. Their report from 5-6 hours ago reads as follows:
DEBKAfile Exclusive: US forces and forensic experts are examining the bodies of eight high-ranking al Qaeda leaders in Mosul to find out if their chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is among them.
November 20, 2005, 8:28 PM (GMT+02:00)
A sample of his DNA is in American possession for a match-up.
The bodies they are trying to identify are of 7 men and one woman, who blew themselves up Sunday, Nov. 20, after their hideout in northern Iraq was under siege by a large US force, backed by tanks and helicopters. The bodies are burned black and unrecognizable. Four Iraqi security officers were killed and 10 injured in the operation.
DEBKAfile’s military sources add that also Sunday, US and Iraqi forces raided al Qaeda sanctuaries in Baghdad and captured several suspects. They followed an intelligence tip which confirmed DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s disclosure (Issue 227 Oct. 28) of the arrival of Zarqawi and his top team to Baghdad on Oct. 15.
We'll just have to wait and see...
Posted by civil truth at November 20, 2005 07:10 PM
"May have been killed," "Unconfirmed reports." How is Debka file more cautious? I'm not reporting fact, I'm reporting supposition (which, I absolutely hope is true) and conjecture. When the DNA reports are in, then and only then will we know.
Posted by GM at November 20, 2005 07:41 PM
I was taught not to wish ill on anyone but must make an exception is this case and say that I hope this is true.
Posted by too many steves at November 20, 2005 08:11 PM
How long will it take for the left to say that our killing of the terrorist will invite more attacks against us? Maybe they support passing resolutions against terrorism to keep terrorists in check.
Posted by Woody at November 21, 2005 08:49 AM
I wasn't trying to be critical; both articles were tentative. My word choice was perhaps unfortunate. It's just that the sentence "The bodies are burned black and unrecognizable" caught my attention in the Debka story, because this would mean that the only basis for hoping al-Zarqawi was among them was some kind of verbal tip-off rather than the bodies themselves. We'll have to wait on the DNA.
Posted by civil truth at November 21, 2005 09:45 AM
