1 What a dirtbag this Ricks is.. When the insurgents kill a few hundred in Iraq, its all bloodshed, civil war, millions rising up against the infidel americans. When the insurgents are rightly blamed for murdering iraqis, then its suddenly, oh just a small part, no big fish. One has to wonder where the loyalties lie, of someone who wants to defend the name of a child murdering bag of excretement.

2 Zarqawi.... a psyop? Gee.... I thought he was dead. Starting to look like flavor of the month is the new Goldstein... the object of the Two Minute Hate. === Iraq militants claim al-Zarqawi is dead Al Qaida-linked extremist suspected of planning attacks AP file Undated photo of suspected al-Qaida commander Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi. Updated: 6:31 a.m. ET March 4, 2004 BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Jordanian extremist suspected of bloody suicide attacks in Iraq was killed some time ago in U.S. bombing and a letter outlining plans for fomenting sectarian war is a forgery, a statement allegedly from an insurgent group west of the capital said. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in the Sulaimaniyah mountains of northern Iraq “during the American bombing there,” according to a statement circulated in Fallujah this week and signed by the “Leadership of the Allahu Akbar Mujahedeen.” There was no way to verify the authenticity of the statement, one of many leaflets put out by a variety of groups taking part in the anti-U.S. resistance. The statement did not say when al-Zarqawi was supposedly killed, but U.S. jets bombed strongholds of the extremist Ansar al-Islam in the north last April as Saddam Hussein’s regime was collapsing. It said al-Zarqawi was unable to escape the bombing because of his artificial leg. Before the Iraq conflict began last March, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said al-Zarqawi received hospital treatment in Baghdad after fleeing Afghanistan. U.S. intelligence sources said he apparently was fitted with an artificial leg. The statement said the “fabricated al-Zarqawi memo” has been used by the U.S.-run coalition “to back up their theory of a civil war” in Iraq. In February, the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq made public an intercepted letter it said was written by al-Zarqawi to al-Qaida leaders, detailing a strategy of spectacular attacks to derail the planned June 30 handover of power to the Iraqis. U.S. officials say al-Zarqawi may have been involved in some of the series of suicide bombings this year in Iraq. “The truth is, al-Qaida is not present in Iraq,” the Mujahedeen statement said. Though many Arabs entered the country to fight U.S. troops, only a small number remain, the group said. A little over a year ago, Jordanian authorities named al-Zarqawi as the mastermind behind the October 2002 murder of Laurence Foley, a 60-year-old administrator of U.S. aid programs in Jordan. In a German court last year, Shadi Abdellah, a Palestinian on trial for allegedly plotting to attack Berlin’s Jewish Museum and a Jewish-owned disco, testified he was working for al-Zarqawi. He said they met in Afghanistan. German authorities have reportedly said they believe al-Zarqawi was appointed by al-Qaida’s leadership to arrange attacks in Europe. Moroccan government sources said a group blamed for bombings last May that killed 45 people in Casablanca got its orders from al-Zarqawi. In Turkey, officials said he was believed to have played a role in bombings that killed 63 at two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank in Istanbul in November.

3 noise, so where's your actual evidence that Zarqawi is actually dead? Citing Baghdad Bob to that effect isn't very persuasive.

4 Wasn't Zarqawi's successes a sign of Bush (US) failure in Iraq, and something he was trying to hide from? Now he is accused of blowing it out of proportion too. Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue.

5 Two minute hate? Suggesting that we, or anyone, only has a two minute attention span and we'll just move on to someone else and forget about him? "Oh, look! Something shiny!" Please. The fact is, there are so many of these guys, it's only two minutes before the next one spouts off. "In a transcript of the meeting, [Col. Derek] Harvey said, "Our own focus on Zarqawi has enlarged his caricature, if you will -- made him more important than he really is, in some ways."" The media has played Zarqawi up making him larger than life, reporting over and over on him and splashing his photo all over the place for how long now? But let the military campaign against him and it's, "They're making him out to be too important." Ricks himself has reported on Zarqawi dozens of times as he often contributes to articles with many other reporters as well as writing some on his own. The fact that there are military people who have disagreements on how any aspect of the war is conducted is nothing new. Col. Harvey thinks Zarqawi shouldn't be played up and someone else thinks he should. So what? But this reporter tries to make this into something it isn't and in effect implies Zarqawi is a bit player.

6 Noise still hasn't apologized for his allegations that death squads linked to the Interior Ministry and trained by US contractors kidnapped Jill Carroll. He has also had nothing to say about the Revenge Brigades, who took the credit for Jill's kidnapping, being part of the Islamic Army in Iraq, who are associated with Sunni terrorists. He should also apologize to Rusty for disputing Rusty's great reporting on this connection.

7 What else do you ever expect from these liberal birdcage liners?