The third most important Al Quaeda target in the world was killed in Iraq yesterday at long last.  This is mostly a collection of overviews and link collections, plus a bit of commentary by me of course, so please click on the links if you haven’t seen these sites yet.  Zarqawi’s killing is being covered to death today so I thought my contribution would be to try to put together something to pull it all together a bit.  Click continue reading>> below to check it out.

To start it off here is the official Centcom (U.S. Central Command) press release on killing Zarqawi:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gen. George W. Casey Jr., Multi-National Force-Iraq Commanding General, announced the death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi in the following statement during a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad June 8:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Coalition Forces killed al-Qaida terrorist leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and one of his key lieutenants, spiritual advisor Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman, yesterday, June 7, at 6:15 p.m. in an air strike against an identified, isolated safe house.
"Tips and intelligence from Iraqi senior leaders from his network led forces to al-Zarqawi and some of his associates who were conducting a meeting approximately eight kilometers north of Baqubah when the air strike was launched.
"Iraqi police were first on the scene after the air strike, and elements of Multi-National Division North, arrived shortly thereafter. Coalition Forces were able to identify al-Zarqawi by fingerprint verification, facial recognition and known scars.
Al-Zarqawi and al-Qaida in Iraq have conducted terrorist activities against the Iraqi people for years in attempts to undermine the Iraqi national government and Coalition efforts to rebuild and stabilize Iraq. He is known to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of Iraqis. Al-Zarqawi’s death is a significant blow to al-Qaida and another step toward defeating terrorism in Iraq.
"Although the designated leader of al-Qaida in Iraq is now dead, the terrorist organization still poses a threat as its members will continue to try to terrorize the Iraqi people and destabilize their government as it moves toward stability and prosperity. Iraqi forces, supported by the Coalition, will continue to hunt terrorists that threaten the Iraqi people until terrorism is eradicated in Iraq."

Famous for slipping away from death or capture in the nick of time on many an occasion, Zarqawi’s luck finally ran out.  How that happened exactly is a story in its own I’m sure and it is possible we will never know for sure.  Published reports today attribute the intelligence that resulted in the strike being given by "close associates" of Zarqawi, or by Jordanian Intelligence, or by Iraqi citizen tips… and who knows maybe it all played into it and likely much more.  Politicians are handing out the praise generously for all aspects of the operation.  Secrecy needs may mean we won’t learn how it happened in a detailed way for decades, if ever, depending on who really was responsible for ratting out Zarqawi.

The Strategy Page published an article yesterday before any of us learned of this operation that was eerily prescient saying that the Al Qaeda leaders may soon ditch Zarqawi :

Given that Zarqawi has become a loose cannon and that his actions are handicapping Al Qaeda’s efforts, it seems reasonable to expect that an accident may befall him at some point in the near future. If handled right it can be made to look like he went out in a blaze of glory fighting American troops or that he was foully murdered. Either way, al Qaeda gets rid of a problem and gains another "martyr."

Which of course is what the al Qaeda press releases today are claiming, that Zarqawi "succeeded" in becoming a "martyr" at last.  Which isn’t rocket science I’ll grant you, what the heck else are they going to say?  I’d love to see the press release from al Qaeda saying "It’s a disaster!  Oh we are SO screwed!", but that’s going to stay a dream unless it gets put into a South Park episode isn’t it?  No, any al Qaeda leaders that fall to us will quickly be called a "heroic martyr".  The Z man took a good long while "earning" that title though, so a reasonable person might suspect he was trying rather hard not to be a martyr.  Maybe that’s just me…

Click on over to Hot Air to see a few videos relating to the event and other general coverage , and of course Little Green Footballs is tirelessly on the case, including the video shot from the air showing the actually bombing that killed Zarqawi. 

CNN has a few details of the operation in their story :

(CNN) — Two 500-pound bombs ended the hunt for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted insurgent in Iraq, and the man behind some of the grisliest terrorist attacks of the war.

U.S. Air Force F-16s launched an airstrike Wednesday on an isolated safe house north of Baquba, after coalition forces determined that he was inside, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Bill Caldwell told reporters on Thursday.

Of course the article goes on to give a few explanations for how it happened, all in the same article:

Pentagon sources told CNN that U.S. Special Forces had tracked al-Zarqawi by following al-Rahman. President Bush also praised the Special Operations forces for their role in the mission.

Gen. William Casey, the top U.S. military leader in Iraq, said that "tips and intelligence from Iraqi senior leaders from his network," led coalition forces to al-Zarqawi.

There’s two different stories right there, in successive paragraphs.  Then there’s this a bit later in the article:

Iraqi civilians in and around Baquba also provided tips, authorities said.

Caldwell said the operation had been going on for weeks.

"It truly was a very long, painstaking, deliberate exploitation of intelligence, information-gathering, human sources, electronic, signal intelligence that was done over a period of time — many, many weeks — that led us last night to that target," he said.

So now we’ve got no less than 4 parties given credit for the success:  special operations following Rahman, tips from within Iraqi al Qaeda, tips from locals where Zarqawi was killed, and finally a huge intelligence effort using all sorts of other means that identified the spot.  Take your pick, and that is just one article.

The Counter Terrorism Blog has an article with many links and quotes , and just to add to the list of theories about how it happened:

Steven Emerson on MSNBC today: Combination of intel from Iraqi and Jordanian sources led to the safehouse; Jordanians confirmed location just prior to the strike.

Of course Glenn Reynolds has a big roundup at Instapundit, including this chunk (emphasis added):

EVEN MORE: Jim Wooten writes:

This has always been the way that the war on terrorism would be won. One bad guy or one small group of them at a time, just as President Bush explained to the nation after Sept. 11th.

Patience. Patience in supporting the men and women of the free world who are taking the Al-Zarqawis out. That’s all that’s ever been required of us. It’s been clear all along. The war will be won on the ground; if it’s lost — if our great grandchildren still live under threat of the al-Qaida offsprings — it will be because we lost our will at home.

Yes. And of course it’s true — as Austin Bay notes in the post linked above — that no single event like this is decisive. It’s all part of a long process of ups and downs. But, of course, that’s also true of the bad news. Funny that when something bad happens, the press doesn’t hedge it with qualifiers and contrary views the way they do when something good does. And it’s too bad that I have to spend so much of a post on a Zarqawi’s death talking about the misconduct of the American press. But terrorism is an information war for the most part, and the press is, in various ways, empowering the terrorists. I wish it would show as much awareness of nuance, and the tendency of people to manipulate the media, where the enemy is concerned as it does in some other settings where, I think it’s fair to say, it cares more about the impact of its behavior.

Which gets to the really disturbing reaction to the good news today.  Everyone would expect al Qaeda to spin Z’s death into a great victory, but I really don’t think most people were prepared for the instant carping, naysaying, and outright distortion of the event by many in the mainstream media.  I watched some of the reporting on TV today with a sense of unreality about it all, even some of the anchors were a bit taken aback by the instant dismissal of this event by their commentators and some reporters with whom they spoke.  Of course these are the people they talk to day in and out about Iraq so they really ought to know what they were going to get, but it didn’t seem like even some of them realized how blinkered by anti-US sentiment many of these people are.

This event has instantly turned into just another partisan political clash of dissonant realities.  The Left is on the attack to marginalize and dismiss this as quickly as possible, concerned that it will distract citizens from their recently successful effort to drag down public opinion of the Iraq war effort.  Captain’s Quarters has another good roundup of news and opinion with this bit:

UPDATE VIII: ABC News reports that Richard Clarke has busied himself by throwing as much cold water on the news as possible:

This morning President Bush hailed the death of al-Zarqawi as a "severe blow to al Qaeda" and "significant victory in the war on terror."

Clarke said the modest size of the terrorist leader’s organization and his minimal involvement in the daily bomb attacks on coalition forces made that claim unlikely.

Though al-Zarqawi was a symbol of terrorism, he commanded only a few hundred people out of tens of thousands involved in the insurgency …

The Jordanian-born terror leader was behind many high profile attacks and beheadings, Clarke said, but was not involved in most of the roadside bombings that have made Iraq so dangerous for coalition troops.

Zarqawi wasn’t important, huh? Tell that to the Iraqis dancing in the street, Richard. Tell that to the Iraqi security forces he targeted for assassination. Tell that to the Shi’ite students he butchered in HIbhib. Does anyone take this man seriously any more?

Unfortunately I think many do, because he gets treated as such an expert by the anti-Bush press.  The MSM does more damage to itself each time it engages in such blatantly clear manipulation of an event as it is with this one.  But then I don’t think they can help themselves really.  They are just reacting according to their skewed leftwing view of the world and its workings. 

Christopher Hitchens has an aritcle up at Slate rising up to the sadly needed duty to actually defend the importance of killing the #3 terrorist and deliberate mass murderer of innocents in the world:

Most fascinating of all is the suggestion that Zarqawi was all along receiving help from the mullahs in Iran. He certainly seems to have been able to transit their territory (Herat is on the Iranian border with Afghanistan) and to replenish his forces by the same route. If this suggestive connection is proved, as Weaver suggests it will be, then we have the Shiite fundamentalists in Iran directly sponsoring the murderer of their coreligionist’s in Iraq. This in turn would mean that the Iranian mullahs stood convicted of the most brutish and cynical irresponsibility, in front of their own people, even as they try to distract attention from their covert nuclear ambitions. That would be worth knowing. And it would become rather difficult to argue that Bush had made them do it, though no doubt the attempt will be made.

If we had withdrawn from Iraq already, as the "peace" movement has been demanding, then one of the most revolting criminals of all time would have been able to claim that he forced us to do it. That would have catapulted Iraq into Stone Age collapse and instated a psychopathic killer as the greatest Muslim soldier since Saladin. As it is, the man is ignominiously dead and his dirty connections a lot closer to being fully exposed. This seems like a good day’s work to me.

I think that’s an excellent summary really.  I’d call it a solid day’s work for all involved.  There are quite a few implications, really substantial and significant implications, of this victory that we may see play out.  The possibility of really finally facing Iran is perhaps the largest of them.  The potential combination of an Iraq that settles down to a normal life, thus freeing up our military forces, with possible concrete intelligence of Iranian collusion with the al Qaeda against us and even their own Shiite brothers could be critical factors leading up to some sort of confrontation with belligerent Iran.  But that is just speculation.  For now what is not speculation is that Abu Masab al Zarqawi will not be severing any more heads on video or planning the suicide attacks on mass groupings of children or people at worship again.

I would like to congratulate everyone who had a hand in removing the scourge of this evil man from the world.  Its a significant Victory and we are all in your debt.