Eliminating Zarqawi: A Long-Time Coming

Eliminating Zarqawi: A Long-Time Coming

Last Wednesday evening at around 6:15 p.m. Iraq time, after several years of relentless intelligence tracking, the U.S. Air Force and the Special Forces permanently eliminated a ruthless, deadly, and barbaric terrorist: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Our military is to be congratulated for their diligence in working to get the number one terrorist in Iraq.

During one of the Congressional Delegations which I traveled with to Iraq, I had the opportunity to meet with some of the Special Operation Forces who were pursuing Zarqawi. At the time these elite troops were frustrated because they had come close to getting Zarqawi on several occasions.

Iraqi security forces caught Zarqawi near the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, in 2004, but released him because they didn't realize who he was. U.S. forces believe they just missed capturing Zarqawi during a raid in which troops closed in on his vehicle. It is thought that Zarqawi avoided capture by jumping out of the vehicle when it passed beneath an overpass. His driver and another associate were captured and Zarqawi's computer was seized along with pistols and ammunition.

Last week the end came for Zarqawi in a mission in which his own terrorist network apparently betrayed him. Part of the key was the ability of U.S. forces to track Zarqawi's "spiritual advisor," Abu Abdul-Rahman, who unwittingly led us to his doorstep, prompting the air strike that killed Zarqawi.

Frequently I've stated: "The research conducted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base today, will provide U.S. troops with the advantages on the battlefields of tomorrow." In fact, The Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patt acknowledged that it produced weapon and reconnaissance systems used in the air strike that killed Zarqawi.

Within hours of Zarqawi's death U.S. troops carried out an additional 17 simultaneous raids around Baqouba, Iraq, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. Baqouba is the area near the safe house where Zarqawi had been hiding. In the press conference announcing the details of the bombing that killed Zarqawi, Major General William Caldwell said that the raids "produced a tremendous amount of information," which he described as a "treasure trove." Hopefully that "treasure trove" will be used to help bring other terrorists to justice.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was one of the terrorists working in Iraq before the beginning of hostilities there in 2003. He fled from Afghanistan to Iraq after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Since then he became the most wanted terrorist in Iraq.

Zarqawi personally beheaded as many as two-dozen civilians including Nicholas Berg, a U.S. citizen, who was working in Iraq. This was the first of many gruesome acts to be videotaped and circulated on the Internet. He was responsible for thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths. Zarqawi's influence reached outside of Iraq and included responsibility for killing an American diplomat in Jordan. He used suicide bombers in three simultaneous attacks against hotels in Jordan, Zarqawi's native country. The approximately 60 people killed in those attacks included 20 killed who were killed attending a Jordanian wedding party at the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman. The fathers of both the bride and groom were killed in this terrible attack. These are just some of sickening acts that Zarqawi either claimed responsibility for, or is believed to be responsible for during his reign of terror.

In a videotape that was made public on April 25, the outtakes from that video that the U.S. military recovered and released in early May, and in a tape released on the Internet just a few days before Zarqawi's death, he elaborates on his goals. Zarqawi wanted Americans to leave Iraq, and the entire Middle East. He also wanted to overthrow the new democratically-elected Iraqi government by starting a war between Shiite Muslims and Sunni Arabs. His most important goal was establishing an Islamic theocracy in the heart of the Muslim world.

Zarqawi did not live to see any of his grand schemes come true. We all look forward to the day when the U.S. military can leave a safe, secure and democratic Iraq. A few minutes after announcing Zarqawi's death, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki presented to Parliament his final choices for his Cabinet, giving Iraq a complete government for the first time since the December 2005 election. This also provides an opportunity for reconciliation between the country's Sunni Muslim minority and the Shiite-dominated government.

There may be more challenging days ahead in Iraq, but eliminating Abu Musab al-Zarqawi provides an opportunity. It is a strike against evil and it improves the chances for the new democratically-elected government in Iraq to succeed.

http://www.house.gov/miketurner/news/columns/6.09.06.shtml