NationStates Jolt Archive

Official: Fallujah strike just missed al-Zarqawi
Explosions, mortar attacks rock Baghdad

Friday, June 25, 2004 Posted: 7:40 PM EDT (2340 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A coalition strike Friday in Fallujah might have come close to killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born Islamic militant believed to have ties to al Qaeda, a senior Defense Department official said.

The official said U.S. warplanes targeted a suspected safe house.

As they began to drop 500-pound bombs on the house, a convoy of cars pulled up to the home. A man got out of a car as the bombs fell and was thrown to the ground by a blast. According to the official, he was hustled back into the car, clearly alive, and driven away.

The official said al-Zarqawi is thought to be the only person in that network of terrorist insurgents who travels with such a large security detail.

The man they saw fall to the ground "wasn't wearing a name tag," but they believe it may have been al-Zarqawi.

The strike killed 20 to 25 people, a senior coalition official said.

It was the third such U.S. airstrike in a week. On Saturday and Tuesday, so-called safe houses in Fallujah allegedly linked to the al-Zarqawi network were targeted by U.S. forces, and about 38 people were killed.

There is fresh intelligence that al-Zarqawi uses Fallujah as a base of operations, the official said.

The official said there were "eyes on the target" while the airstrike was conducted. That could mean an unmanned Predator drone aircraft was flying overhead, observing the convoy.

Coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the target was "based on confirmations of actionable intelligence provided by both Iraqi and coalition intelligence sources."

U.S. officials say al-Zarqawi has close ties to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

They also blame him for the videotaped beheading of American businessman Nicholas Berg in May, and a group linked to him claimed responsibility for beheading South Korean citizen Kim Sun-il this week.

Meanwhile, two mortar attacks and two explosions pierced the night in Baghdad late Friday and early Saturday, a coalition military official said.

No injuries or major damage were reported, according to coalition spokesman Capt. Patrick Swan.

At about 9 p.m. Friday, an improvised explosive device blew up in eastern Baghdad, Swan said.

Mortar rounds were fired at a road in western Baghdad near Abu Ghraib prison about 10 p.m., Swan said. A half-hour later, a bomb exploded at the home of Iraq's deputy minister of defense. Swan said Iraqi police immediately secured the area, and the minister and his family were reported uninjured.

Just after midnight Saturday, six mortar shells struck the road near the Green Zone, where the U.S.-led coalition is headquartered. A quick-reaction force responded to the scene.

Earlier Friday, a police officer died and another was wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a police car in western Baghdad.

Iraq tightened security ahead of next week's handover of sovereignty from the U.S.-led coalition to the Iraqi interim government, and two top Iraqi ministers vowed to stand firm against the escalating insurgency.

Fighting continued in Fallujah on Friday. At least seven Iraqis were killed and about 54 others were wounded, according to a Health Ministry official.

Video from the city, shot Friday morning, showed rising smoke as the sound of small-arms fire and explosions could be heard. Heavily armed masked insurgents -- some brandishing rocket launchers -- patrolled the streets, aiming their weapons at unseen targets.
More violence could mean more troops

In his confirmation hearing before the Senate on Thursday, Gen. George Casey -- who will soon take over as the commander of coalition forces -- said U.S. Central Command is working on contingency planning in case increased violence persists in Iraq after the handover.

"That is CentCom doing some prudent planning in the event the security situation changes," he said. "But it is not a request for forces or even an informal request for forces."

As many as 15,000 troops could be deployed to Iraq if the insurgency continues to intensify, CNN has learned. About 140,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq.

At least 96 people -- 93 Iraqis and three U.S. troops -- were killed in seemingly coordinated insurgent attacks in five Iraqi cities Thursday. Iraqi police and health officials said 331 people were wounded in the attacks.

Hours after the strikes, the military wing of the Unification and Jihad, a group linked to al-Zarqawi, issued a statement on a Web site that claimed responsibility for attacking five police stations in Mosul, two locations in Baqubah, one in Ramadi and another in Baghdad.

This really bothers me, living in America and such, and it makes me feel stupider then I already do for living here. I don't see how a bunch of arabs with RPGs can evade the united states military. I'm baffled at how much or intelligence can be not so intelligent.

I also don't understand why this story has been the top story on CNN for the past few hours. It's an article about some guy that might be al-whosamawhat that stumbled over a rock while sneezing, fell slightly, and was helped back into his car.

Why would this big bad insurgent pull up to a house that is being bombed? I doubt that if he has evaded the military forces for this long, you have to give him a little more credit than that..

"Almost" just doesn't cut it for me. I don't know about the rest of you, but I think that if you're going to do something, you had better do it right and damn quick.

I didn't support going to "war" with Iraq in the first place because I could see no proof that saddam was a threat to the united states, and I don't think the average American could either. But since we've dug ourselves into shit deeper than the pacific, it's obvious we won't be pulling out for a few years.

Just had to post this.. "almost" was bothering me.

Are you kidding? Almost is GREAT. It means that he escaped through luck alone, and he wont be so lucky next time. I'd be more worried if we didn't manage to find him at all.

I'd be more worried if we didn't manage to find him at all.
You mean...like Osama?

Wrong. Almost is bureaucratic bullshit, used to instill false hope in the minds of the average dumbass american civilian. Almost means that yet agian, we have been outsmarted by some arabs.

I don't see how a bunch of arabs with RPGs can evade the united states military.

The way you say that makes it sound as if the fact that they are arabs should make it easier for the US military to capture them. I'm sure such racism was not intended, no?

The American military, trained to destroy another nation in a conventional war, is unmatched in its arena. However, pit it against a guerilla warfare group and it's screwed. Look at Vietnam.

And they aren't neccasarily outsmarting us either. They just don't use electronic communications, which is what the CIA and such are geared towards. They use word of mouth-no phone, no internet, no nothing.

The American military, trained to destroy another nation in a conventional war, is unmatched in its arena.

Really? Somehow I don't think that is what the US military is trained for: to neutralize military opposition by whatever means are necessary, yes, destroying other nations, no. Even a pacifist like me makes this distinction.

I feel like US's armies will fall someday. It's like the Iraqis are blasting themselves killing US soldiers... shouldn't we stop this war yet? I mean, we've caught Saddam, isnt the new leader good enough for now? MY PARENTS ARE WASTING THEIR TAX MONEY AND GAS! We're broke now...

I don't see how a bunch of arabs with RPGs can evade the united states military.

The way you say that makes it sound as if the fact that they are arabs should make it easier for the US military to capture them. I'm sure such racism was not intended, no?

The keyword was meant to be "bunch" as in a small platoon-like organization, not arab. No, I intended no racisim.. at least I'm not racist towards arabs, but I'll keep my other beliefs private, thank you.

Considering many field commanders still fall back upon the 2nd generation of warfare in many operations, I don't see the 'win at any cost' logic playing in. They are trained to kill the enemy military, and when anyone can be in the enemy military as evidenced in the 4th generation of warfare, it gets kinda hard.

I feel like US's armies will fall someday. It's like the Iraqis are blasting themselves killing US soldiers... shouldn't we stop this war yet? I mean, we've caught Saddam, isnt the new leader good enough for now? MY PARENTS ARE WASTING THEIR TAX MONEY AND GAS! We're broke now...

As I stated already, we're in to deep, we can't pull out.

Also, catching Saddam was never a goal of the war in Iraq. The bureacratic reason was to search for "weapons of mast destruction", which were not found, which means the 1,000 or so lives of soldiers follwing orders were wasted.

But we will never know the true reason for invasion.


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Looking for warheads? Start with the empty one in the white house.

I wonder why nothing has been said about that sarin shell in Iraq?

I wonder why nothing has been said about that sarin shell in Iraq?

Sarin shell? I don't recall hearing about it, but assuming it's true, who's to say that it was Iraqi government issued, that it belonged to the government, or that it was produced in Iraq? It could have easily been purchased from some other country.

(Was that where the 3 marines died? No wait.. that was on JAG.. don't mind me)

It could have been produced elsewhere, but it's the best evidence for the Iraqi government's holding of WMD. It was in local newspapers here, and on the radio, so I'm sure a simple Google will find you it. Unless the newspaper and radio here were lying.

It could have been produced elsewhere, but it's the best evidence for the Iraqi government's holding of WMD. It was in local newspapers here, and on the radio, so I'm sure a simple Google will find you it. Unless the newspaper and radio here were lying.

What proof connected one sarin shell to the iraqi government? Could they tell if the shell actually contained anything? I lack evidence, and I like evidence.

I don't know, the fact it was there maybe? Look it up yourself, the article was from a while back and I don't remember wether it was claimed Iraq made the shell or what.

it's the best evidence for the Iraqi government's holding of WMD.

Which goes to show how weak the case about WMD is. The shell in question dated from before the first Gulf War in 1991, and could not have been accurately called a weapon of "mass" destruction by any stretch of the imagination.

it's the best evidence for the Iraqi government's holding of WMD.

Which goes to show how weak the case about WMD is. The shell in question dated from before the first Gulf War in 1991, and could not have been accurately called a weapon of "mass" destruction by any stretch of the imagination.

Interesting fact.