More dead terrorists, and that is always good news:
One of al-Qaida’s top five leaders, a key associate of Ayman al-Zawahri, was tracked down with U.S. help and killed by Pakistani security forces in a rocket attack near the Afghan border, officials said Saturday.
Hamza Rabia, believed to have become al-Qaida’s operational commander after the arrest of Abu Farraj al-Libbi in northwestern Pakistan in May, ranks somewhere between third and fifth in the terror network’s hierarchy, officials said.
He was among five people who died in an explosion Thursday in the North Waziristan tribal area. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Rabia’s remains were identified via a DNA test.
In Kuwait, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf confirmed that Rabia was killed.
”Yes, indeed, 200 percent confirmed,” Musharraf said at the start of a three-nation visit in the Middle East.
I did notice and appreciate that Hamza Rabia was not described as Ayman al-Zawahri’s number two man.
The Disenfranchised Voter
1 down, 100,000 or so to go!
“The end of the war is near…”
–Darth Sidious
KC
Good. Number 3 though? How many of them are there?
Mac Buckets
Waziristan? If they’re going to make up propaganda news, they could at least use place names that don’t sound that made up. “We’re kicking those terrorists from here to Waziristan!”
John S.
Nah, instead they hyped him as #3.
demimondian
Yeah, well, the BBC has something to say about that, too:
Mac Buckets
Al Qaeda should really firm up its org chart. It would make them more effectiv — errrr, forget I said that.
KC
Now that’s fuckin’ funny, Mac Buckets.
a guy called larry
All the local tribesmen are tied for #2.
Paddy O'Shea
New poll from Time Magazine is out today, and it ain’t such good news for the War President. His approval # slips slightly to 41% from where it during the last cycle for this poll. But more tellingly a full 60% of those responding want the next president to be “completely different than Bush.”
Must mean the American people are looking for someone smart, knowledgeable, competent and honest.
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Time_poll_60_want_next_president_1203.html
The Disenfranchised Voter
Heh.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
You know… he licked envelopes, answered the phones and got coffee. His dad is a big donor or something.”
Mac Buckets
Trying to hijack another thread, PO’S? Another off-topic poll proclaiming what political trouble Bush is in? Come on, that’s great and all, but start your own blog if you want to talk about only what you want.
Davebo
Meanwhile, al-Qaida announces it has traded Alhali Amar Zali to the internal Jordanian resistance for a #2 Iraqi draft pick and a terrorist to be named at a later date.
It’s unsure how this move will affect al-Qaida’s salary cap as a new trend is emerging where high ranked suicide bombers are demanding significant signing bonuses upfront.
Steve S
Too much signifigance is made of these reports. Ask yourself what would happen to the effectiveness of the US Military if a Marine Colonel was killed?
Ohwell, I guess if you are desperate for good news, this is better than nothing.
James Emerson
I’ve seen so many number twos claimed to be lying on the desert sand that I’ve taken to wearing galoshes whenever I wade through the media propaganda.
DougJ
We’ve turned the corner on terrorism. This could prove to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Al Qaeda could afford to lose 25 #2’s and 15 #3’s, but now that we’ve taken out nearly 30 of each, they’re in real trouble.
Freedom is on the march.
Horshu
In one of Dante’s levels of hell, 1000 of Al Qaida’s #3 men (and I think we’ve already put about 873 of them there) reads George W Bush’s Iraq strategy speech (all 1000 of it) over and over again.
Paddy O'Shea
Mac Nuggets – Something I keep forgetting to ask you: When are you going to put your ass behind your mouth and enlist?
You do know the one thing chickenhawks and crackwhores have in common, right? Both like to work with their mouths.
Oberon
ranks somewhere between third and fifth in the terror network’s hierarchy, officials said.
grammatically, that means he’s fourth.
Mike
Good thing he was killed vice captured.
Otherwise we’d have Libs campaigning for clemency and trying to give him the Nobel Peace prize.
Free Mumia!
Free Tookie!!
Vlad
I’m not a number, I’m a free man!
joe
I think John Cole normally is on a level with Bob Somerby, reason and facts being more important than ideology. BUT, I just find it offensive to cheer the death of anybody no matter how necessary that death might be. I certainly didn’t lose any sleep when John Wayne Gacy was executed, but to sit up all night and cheer stuck me as just morbid..
Joe
BIRDZILLA
Live by the sword die by the sword live by the bomb die by the bomb KABOOOM
Juan Gewanfri
He was number three in Al Queada. It took us how many years to kill all the several dozen number two men? How many number three men does Al Queada have anyways?
Jimmy Jazz
I’ve seen so many new number twos that I’m having flashbacks to Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner.
Mac Buckets
Refer to Chickenhawk meme reply #2, #3, #6, #12, and #16. There, your “argument” is soundly defeated. And…my ass behind my mouth? Sounds like your kinda action!
Far North
Ever notice that whenever several american soldiers (like six or seven or ten) are killed in single attack or IED episode, then later that day or the very next day a report comes out that we killed a real important member of Al Qeada?
Nothing is believable when it comes to Bush’s Global War on Terror. And I mean fucking nothing.
Paddy O'Shea
Chickenhawk meme #17: The Mac Nuggets Corallary:
Q) What do chickenhawks and crackwhores have in common?
A) Both prefer to work with their mouths.
Paddy O'Shea
Far North: God point. Back in the days of the eminently laughable Tom Ridge something like this would usually result in a raising of the terrorist alert level. That is until it becme a national joke.
Peter ve
But when will we kill Emmaneul Goldstein?
skip
“I did notice and appreciate that Hamza Rabia was not described as Ayman al-Zawahri’s number two man.”
Me too, or is it me two?
I thought ALL the number two guys were under the rubble in Jenin.
Far North
That Zarqawi guy that the Bushies always talk about, is that the same Zarqawi that the military had located and targeted 3 times before the war started but were denied permission from Bush to take him out because it might undermine the president’s case for war if he were made dead? Is it that Zarqawi that Rummy and Cheny and Bush are always talking about?
Al Maviva
Hey, Paddy O’Furniture.
Q: What do “chickenhawk” name callers and people who have actually served in the military in combat zones have in common?
A: Nothing.