Tel-Chai Nation

There have been reports already, such as this one from the Jerusalem Post (via Michelle Malkin), that Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi may have been among eight terrorists who blew themselves up in Mosul in Iraq. But so far, nothing is clear.

The Counterterrorism Blog's Evan Kohlmann tells why he's skeptical of the reports:

Other, highly dubious reports have also surfaced in the media today suggesting that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may have been himself killed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul during a U.S. military raid on a suspected Al-Qaida hideout. Needless to say, such "tips" are often posted on fringe Arabic-language message forums on the Internet and are subsequently picked up by overeager news agencies -- but ultimately, most prove to be nothing more than unfounded rumor. Certainly, Al-Qaida doesn't seem to have been at all fazed by the reported Mosul raid. Not only has Al-Qaida issued nearly twenty new communiques in the last twenty four hours, but it also claimed credit for additional insurgent attacks on U.S. forces in Mosul. Apparently, the raid that "might have killed" Zarqawi did not even succeed in decapitating Al-Qaida's military command structure in the Mosul area. This Zarqawi report ultimately will be proven or disproven by the only sure way possible: forensic evidence collected on scene. But, at least for the moment--given what we do know--it seems fair to classify Zarqawi's would-be passing as extremely unlikely.

I have to admit that Kohlmann's got a point. There's no way to be able to tell for sure in a case like this.

Here's also another entry by Kohlmann, in which he reports that the al Qaeda has denied reports of Zarqawi's death, though there's no telling if even that's got any truth to it. We'll just have to wait and see. I sure hope that what the awful al Qaeda is claiming is just a lie. That man deserves to die.

Others on the subject include Protein Wisdom, Don Surber, No End but Victory, Angry in the Great White North, The Indepundit, Iraq the Model, Stop the ACLU, Speed of Thought, Rhymes With Right, Generation Why, Iowa Voice, All Things Conservative, The Strata-Sphere, All Things Beautiful, Drumwaster's Rants, Oblogatory Anecdotes, Small Town Veteran, Echo9er, Two Babes and a Brain, Right Minded.

Labels: war on terror