Raids Launched in and Around Baghdad after Zarqawi's Death
08 June 2006
General Caldwell says targets provide "treasure trove" of intelligence information
By Jacquelyn S. Porth
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Raids conducted by U.S. and Iraqi forces in and around Baghdad, Iraq, in the wake of the successful elimination of al-Qaida in Iraq’s leader, Abu Musa al-Zarqawi, have netted “a treasure trove” of counterterrorism intelligence information, according to a coalition spokesman.
Army Major General William Caldwell told reporters in Baghdad June 8 that raids were launched within hours after the Jordan-born Zarqawi was confirmed dead near Baquba, a city approximately 65 kilometers from Iraq’s capital on June 7.
Now that Zarqawi is out of the way, he said, coalition and Iraqi forces can go after “all these other targets we have been using in order to establish his movements . . . patterns . . . [and] habits and where we could find him like we did last night.”
Intelligence information gathered within the past 24 hours will be “used and exploited” for future operations,” Caldwell said.
President Bush said June 8 the death of Zarqawi struck a severe blow to al-Qaida and represented a victory in the global war against terrorism, providing the Iraqi government with an opportunity “to turn the tide” in its struggle. (See related article.)
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, commenting in London on Zarqawi’s demise, concurred, calling it “a blow against al-Qaida everywhere,” while U.S. Army General George Casey, commander of the multinational forces in Iraq, called Zarqawi’s death “another step toward defeating terrorism in Iraq.”
Speaking to reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Zarqawi had personified “the dark, sadistic and medieval vision” of Iraq’s future by carrying out beheadings, suicide bombings and indiscriminate killings of innocent Iraqi civilians.
The secretary described Zarqawi as one of three leading senior al-Qaida leaders worldwide. His death, he said, is a significant victory because he had interests in promoting terrorism well beyond Iraq.
Rumsfeld, who is attending a defense ministerial meeting in Belgium, said this latest turn of events will hurt the Zarqawi network and make life more difficult for those who would perpetuate his vision. But he acknowledged that there undoubtedly will be someone new who will seek to fill the mastermind’s footsteps.
Anthony Cordesman, terrorism expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Zarqawi’s death will have a positive effect because no other figure in the insurgency has been able to similarly capture the attention of Iraq or the rest of the world. Most leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq who might succeed Zarqawi, he said, largely are unknown.
AIR STRIKE CULMINATION OF “PAINSTAKING INTELLIGENCE-GATHERING
Speaking only 20 hours after Zarqawi and his key spiritual adviser, Abd al-Rahman, were killed when two F-16s bombed an isolated safe house, Caldwell said the second of two 227-kilogram bombs ensured their demise. Even though Zarqawi’s death was confirmed by Iraqi police who were first to arrive at the scene, Caldwell said, fingerprint confirmation was conducted and Zarqawi’s DNA also has been dispatched for analysis.
Caldwell said the air strike was the culmination of “painstaking intelligence-gathering from local sources [human and electronic] and from within Zarqawi’s network, made possible both by the Iraqis who have made the determination to uphold the legitimate authority of their own nation and the slow, deliberate exploitation of leads and opportunities, person-to-person, through evidence [gathered] since December 2003.” He also said Rahman was the key to success in pinpointing Zarqawi’s location.
Caldwell hypothesized that Zarqawi had named a successor prior to his death. That person, he said, is likely to try to incite violence in Iraq in the coming days as an indicator that al-Qaida in Iraq still is a viable insurgency.
In confirming Zarqawi’s death on the Internet, Al-Qaida in Iraq forces vowed to continue his fight.
Zarqawi’s death came less than a week after he issued an audiotape on the Internet urging Sunnis in Iraq to confront Shi’ites and to boycott government reconciliation efforts.
Speaking generally, Caldwell said various nations are sharing intelligence in the global war against terrorism. In response to a reporter’s specific question about Iraq, he said Jordan is an important counterterror ally “and a good friend of Iraq’s as they fight this global war.” A National Public Radio account of the strike against Zarqawi attributed its success to information from residents of the Diyala province and from Jordanian intelligence as well.
For more information about U.S. policy, see Response to Terrorism.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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