IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

A message to al Qaeda -- You can run, but you can't hide.

Al-Zarqawi is dead.

I don't take any pleasure in a human being getting killed, but I'm happy that justice was done. And it was done.

I know that al-Zarqawi's supporters consider him to be a martyr, so they're happy.

Everybody's happy!

Naturally, a few Dems, Reuters, the BBC, and the Lefty so-called "human rights" groups are whining. That's to be expected. They always do.

Al-Zarqawi's reign of terror is over. He will never behead another person, nor will he encourage others to butcher people.

I think one of the most hopeful signs is that fellow terrorists gave him up.



In addition, two important posts in the cabinet of the Iraqi unity government were finally filled.

Yes, this is a beautiful day.

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I'd like to ask al-Maliki his opinion of the American military today.

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From the archives--

Memories
Like the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were

The Best of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi



Al-Zarqawi -- Uncut, Uncensored


"Which end does the bullet come out?"

A new video released by the U.S. military shows another side of the menacing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In addition to being a savage, ruthless murdering terrorist, it turns out that he's quite a doofus.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is shown wearing American tennis shoes and unable to operate his automatic rifle in video released Thursday by the U.S. military as part of a propaganda war aimed at undercutting the image of the terror leader.

Speaking of a propaganda war aimed at undercutting the image of a leader, that's business as usual for the AP -- a fount of anti-Bush blather.

...The clips were part of a longer video that U.S. troops seized in a raid last month. Al-Qaida in Iraq militants posted an edited version of the same video on the Internet April 25 - but without the embarrassing segments.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for the U.S. command, mocked al-Zarqawi as the previously unseen footage showed a smiling al-Qaida leader first firing single shots from a U.S.-made M-249 light machine gun. A frown creeps across al-Zarqawi's face as the weapon jams. He looks at it, confused, then summons another fighter.

"It's supposed to be automatic fire. He's shooting single shots," Lynch said. "Something is wrong with his machine gun. He looks down, can't figure out, calls his friend to come unblock the stoppage and get the weapon firing again."

The word choices in this article are so telling in terms of the AP's bias and sympathy for the terrorist leader.

Lynch "mocked" al-Zarqawi. Boo Hoo!

I saw the video of the briefing. I don't think Lynch was mocking him. He was pointing out to reporters, who might be unfamiliar with weapons, just how poorly al-Zarqawi handled the gun.

It's important for the world, especially the Arab world, to see that the video al-Zarqawi released at the end of April was a propaganda piece. It wasn't a realistic depiction of a day in the life of al-Zarqawi. It was carefully orchestrated. In other words, it was fiction, not a documentary.

...His fellow fighters and associates appear similarly inept in the newly released footage. One reaches out to grab a just-fired weapon by the barrel, apparently unaware that it would burn his hand. The camera quickly pans to the ground and then away.

"His close associates around him ... do things like grab the hot barrel of the machine gun and burn themselves," Lynch said. "Makes you wonder" about their military skills.

Another clip showed the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi - who has derided everything Western - dressed in a black uniform but wearing New Balance tennis shoes as he walked to a white pickup.

I think the outtake video is significant. It's not propaganda. It's the truth. It shows al-Zarqawi's followers that he is a sham.

I imagine that the video of him bouncing around in those shoes is going to be difficult to live down. He definitely has a serious PR problem now.

And here is the Associated Press at its biased best, twisting the al-Zarqawi story in order to take swipes at the Pentagon.

...U.S. authorities have used selective leaks in the past to discredit al-Zarqawi but with uncertain success. The Pentagon was embarrassed in December when reports surfaced that it had paid Iraqi newspapers to publish propaganda stories.

In October, the U.S. released a letter purportedly from bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, urging al-Zarqawi to expand his operations into neighboring Muslim countries. Al-Qaida claimed the letter was fake.

"Selective leaks." Do you believe that?

The outtake video wasn't leaked.
When the Pentagon releases information to the press at a briefing, it's not a leak. According to that standard, Scott McClellan has spent nearly three years leaking to the press as the White House press secretary.

How lame!

Reporter Tarek El-Tablawy isn't being fair and balanced. He's running damage control for al-Zarqawi. He drags out old, unrelated stories and tacks on those items to the al-Zarqawi story in order to embarrass the Pentagon. That's not being objective. That's being slanted.

Mentioning the letter that al Qaeda claimed was fake is quite a reach.

Was that letter ever determined with 100% certitude to be fraudulent, like the phony documents CBS embraced in order to influence the outcome of the 2004 presidential election?
Was it ever shown to be a real fake, like those forged National Guard records that led to the downfall of Mary Mapes and Dan Rather?

El-Tablawy doesn't say. He just throws it out there.

No matter. El-Tablawy and the Associated Press can't spin away the facts.

The outtake video reveals al-Zarqawi and his band of thugs, uncut and uncensored.

They are bumbling fools, incompetent with weapons, and like "made in the USA" New Balance shoes.