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marden · 03:39 AM

Arab media reports Iraq's al-Qaida leader killed
Officials await DNA tests to determine if man killed in raid is al-Masri

Al-Qaida in Iraq leader targeted in raid - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie presents a video showing the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, in Baghdad on Sunday.

Hadi Mizban / AP

Updated: 3:21 a.m. CT Oct 5, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two Arab satellite television stations reported Thursday that the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq may have been killed by U.S. forces during a raid near Haditha, but American officials said they had no information about the reports.

Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, deputy Interior Minister in Iraq, told al-Arabiya TV in a phone call from Baghdad that officials were awaiting DNA tests to determine if a man killed in a recent raid was the new leader, Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

"We are not sure about al-Masri. There were other people who were killed in this U.S. military operation. We are waiting for the DNA tests to be sure of the identity," Kamal said.

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said he had no immediate information on the report.

On Sunday, Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, told reporters U.S. and Iraqi forces were closing in on al-Masri.

Al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, took over al-Qaida in Iraq after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed June 7 in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad.

U.S. officials said al-Masri joined an extremist group led by al-Qaida's No.2 official in 1982. He joined al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan in 1999 and trained as a car bombing expert before traveling to Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Kevin · Oct 5, 2006, 06:32 AM

Next....

marden · Oct 5, 2006, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by Kevin

Next....

I remember hearing someone once refer to the building where some jihadis were hiding as something like a paradise launching depot because the jihadists believe they will go to paradise by fighting in Iraq and that building was about to be hit with a tank round.

So, if al Masri did die, it would be "Next," indeed!

Their leadership can't be too effective if it changes every 5 months, can it?

mitchell_pgh · Oct 5, 2006, 08:58 AM

We are using western thinking to fight a middle-eastern thinking organization. I'm sure someone will "honor his sacrifice" by stepping up and taking his place.

marden · Oct 5, 2006, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

We are using western thinking to fight a middle-eastern thinking organization. I'm sure someone will "honor his sacrifice" by stepping up and taking his place.

The Islamic campaigns of conquest were stopped in previous generations using western thinking.

DLQ2006 · Oct 5, 2006, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by marden

I remember hearing someone once refer to the building where some jihadis were hiding as something like a paradise launching depot because the jihadists believe they will go to paradise by fighting in Iraq and that building was about to be hit with a tank round.

So, if al Masri did die, it would be "Next," indeed!

Their leadership can't be too effective if it changes every 5 months, can it?

They want to die; we want to kill them. That's what I call a win/win situation.

Dakar · Oct 5, 2006, 12:52 PM

PacHead, is that you!?

itai195 · Oct 5, 2006, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by marden

The Islamic campaigns of conquest were stopped in previous generations using western thinking.

It's not a 'campaign of conquest' when they're fighting over their own land, is it? I am just wondering how much of an effect this will really have.

marden · Oct 5, 2006, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by Dakar

PacHead, is that you!?

Dakar, I think you are dying to have someone guess who you really are. Thew problem is that your real identity was anonamous. HA!

Dakar · Oct 5, 2006, 12:58 PM

I wasn't looking, but I'll be damned if that post didn't scream it. I think people in the other thread were commenting that DLQs style seemed familiar. Anyway, I'm in no way as confident in this guess like I am about you.

And let's not pretend that several people here haven't returned under new identities, banned or no.

marden · Oct 5, 2006, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by itai195

It's not a 'campaign of conquest' when they're fighting over their own land, is it? I am just wondering how much of an effect this will really have.

We differ on that point I take it.

marden · Oct 5, 2006, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by Dakar

I wasn't looking, but I'll be damned if that post didn't scream it. I think people in the other thread were commenting that DLQs style seemed familiar. Anyway, I'm in no way as confident in this guess like I am about you.

And let's not pretend that several people here haven't returned under new identities, banned or no.

Who is Dakar's original name?

itai195 · Oct 5, 2006, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by Dakar

I wasn't looking, but I'll be damned if that post didn't scream it. I think people in the other thread were commenting that DLQs style seemed familiar. Anyway, I'm in no way as confident in this guess like I am about you.

Careful or she'll start calling you names

DLQ2006 · Oct 5, 2006, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by itai195

It's not a 'campaign of conquest' when they're fighting over their own land, is it?

If all that motivated the Iraqis was to protect their own land, wouldn't it behoove them to stop killing each other, stop killing coalition troops, and stop beheading civilians long enough to allow for the creation of a stable govt so that the coalition forces can leave? Besides, what about all the other Islamic fundamentalists pouring in from other countries to do their part in keeping Iraq unstable and at war?

What do you think their motivation is? Are they just there to help their brethren kick out the filthy infidels? Or there because their religious leaders have instilled the belief in them and have commanded them to fight a jihadi war against the non-believers in order to pave the way for the Mahdi?

Us westerners, with our pollyannish worldview believe that Islam calls itself the "religion of peace" because Muslims just want to coexist peacefully with non-muslims. However that's not what is being taught to Islamic extremists. What is being taught to them is that it means that once the Mahdi returns and all non-muslims have either converted or are living under islamic law, there will be peace. Sure, Peace after all the resisting infidels have been killed. What the Qu'ran and other books of works of Muhammad (pigs be upon him) say is irrelevant. What the extremists are being taught is to kill or convert the infidels so that the world will be ruled by Allah only.

Sky Captain · Oct 5, 2006, 01:19 PM

Allah is dead.

Dakar · Oct 5, 2006, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by marden

Who is Dakar's original name?

I'm still on my first account.

Not for much longer, though.