Tracking Zarqawi

[Jedburgh]

From USIP: What Makes Zarqawi Tick?

...In cooperation with the Middle East Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Muslim World Initiative at USIP invited Gilles Kepel, director of the Middle East–Mediterranean Program at Sciences-Po in Paris, to present his analysis of al Qaeda operations in Iraq. Dan Brumberg, special advisor at USIP and professor at the Department of Government at Georgetown University, and Dan Byman, professor at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown, commented on the implications of Kepel’s analysis for the broader struggle against radical Islamism. This event was moderated by Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Kepel focused on three main issues:

- Zarqawi's efforts to mobilize the (Sunni) masses in Iraq;
- Ideological divergences within al Qaeda precipitated by Zarqawi’s violent tactics;
- The prominent role Iran is playing in Iraq, and Iran’s effect on the political process.

[SWJED]

4 May American Forces Press Service - Coalition Shows Zarqawi Outtakes During Press Event.

Coalition officials here today showed the "outtakes" of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's latest anti-coalition screed, and it became quickly apparent why they ended on the cutting-room floor, so to speak.
In one, Zarqawi -- the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq -- has trouble trying to operate an automatic weapon. An associate has to show him how to do it. Later in the same shot, an associate takes the weapon from Zarqawi by the barrel and burns his hand. In another, the feared terrorist is shown in a black uniform and bright blue "tenny pumps."

Coalition troops found the tape during a raid on a hideout for foreign fighters. "He is far from being a capable military leader," coalition spokesman Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said during a news conference today.

Zarqawi has the most to lose as Iraq forms its national unity government, the general said. Al Qaeda leaders understand that democracy in Iraq means failure for the extremist organization.

Zarqawi's al Qaeda mission is to destabilize any government in Iraq, to drive the coalition from the country, and to impose an extremist government and expand it across the region.

Lynch said the coalition has made good progress against foiling suicide bombings, the most deadly attacks in Iraq. "The suicide attacks are where the innocent men, women and children of Iraq are being killed or severely wounded," the general said.

About 90 percent of those launching suicide attacks are foreigners recruited and outfitted by Zarqawi. "We have planned and launched operations over the past couple of weeks to deny him that capability," Lynch said.

Over the past year, the coalition has cut the number of suicide attacks Zarqawi can launch. First, operations in the Euphrates River Valley disrupted the flow of foreign extremists from Syria, and now intelligence has allowed coalition forces to kill or capture a significant number of foreign fighters.

A year ago, Lynch said, there were on average 75 suicide attacks per month. Today there are less than 25 per month.

Lynch said coalition officials have targeted suicide bombers. "Since April 8, coalition forces have killed 31 foreign fighters," he said. "These are people that Zarqawi brought into Iraq to be suicide bombers who were killed before they could launch their attacks."

Suicide bombers most often come from Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Jordan. Most come into Iraq over the Syrian border. Lynch said that once captured, suicide attackers have often given coalition officials "actionable intelligence."

4 May Voice of America - U.S. Military Says It is Closer to Capturing Al-Qaida's Leader in Iraq.

The U.S. military says it is closer to capturing al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

A military spokesman made the remark Thursday in Baghdad, following the recovery of documents and an unedited copy of an al-Zarqawi video that aired last week on international television.

U.S. Major General Rick Lynch mocked al-Zarqawi while playing unedited video showing the terrorist wearing a black uniform and American-made running shoes. The video also shows him struggling to fire an automatic weapon.

General Lynch said U.S. forces discovered the video in April in a series of raids south of Baghdad, near Yousifiyah. He described the area as a planning and staging post for insurgent suicide attacks.

On Edit - ABC has footage of the Zarqawi "bloopers" posted here. Hat tip to Bill Roggio at the Counterterrorism Blog.

[SWJED]

Bill Roggio at the Counterterrorism Blog - Hunting Zarqawi and Tales of the Tape.

ABC News has the footage of the 'Zarqawi Bloopers'. CENTCOM has a 20 second clip of Zarqawi misfiring the SAW. He is receiving instructions and definitely does not know how to handle this weapon. His handler clears the weapon for him. FOX News has a four minute clip.

In today's weekly media briefing from Baghdad, Major General Rick Lynch stated Coalition and Iraqi forces are closing in on Zarqawi and his network. "We believe it is only a matter of time until Zarqawi is taken down. It's not if, but when," said Maj. Gen. Lynch, "He's willing to pull his people from outside the perimeter of Baghdad into Baghdad to go full out on operations inside of Baghdad. Which leads us to believe his personal location is probably somewhere close to those operations. Zarqawi is zooming in on Baghdad, we are zooming in on Zarqawi." Zarqawi's focus on Baghdad is forcing him to concentrate the organization's resources and energy on the capitol (I noted on December 10, 2005 that the insurgency is focusing on the 'core' of Iraq - Baghdad and the surrounding regions, and reiterated this at the end of March). The focus on Baghdad is exposing his network to Task Force 145 - the hunter-killer teams of Special Operations Forces put together to track down Zarqawi and al-Qaeda in Iraq high command...