Rumsfeld: "Stunning shock" to al Qaeda - Not sure about the few dead enders

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N08419196.htm

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) - The killing of militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi at the same time Iraq finished forming its government was "a stunning shock" to al Qaeda, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday.

"A stunning shock to the al Qaeda system," Rumsfeld said of the death of Zarqawi and five others in a precision U.S. bombing in Iraq.

"On the very day he gets killed, the government gets formed," he told reporters on his plane home to Washington from Brussels, where news of Zarqawi's death upstaged a NATO ministerial meeting. snip


Asked if he expected a surge of retaliatory violence in Iraq, the Pentagon chief said many attacks were planned in advance, unconnected to daily events.

"You can have an upswing but I think linking it to that would surprise me," said Rumsfeld.

the U.S. was kind enough to lend its military for the task.

you that Zarqawi's whereabouts were known for quite some time before yesterday's strike.

This was by no means an instant strike.

And rummy is talking directly out of his ass.

ingenuous.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/391DEB60-34D8-4139-8388-C3A64C0F4474.htm

al-Zarqawi's family knew his death was coming. I'm sure the people he hung with expected it. I'm sure he knew he would be martyred.

Rummy, seriously, 135,000 troops can't hold Iraq. Bigger bullets ain't the answer. It's to late to pull rabbits out of your hat Rummy. No one buys that shit, you had the dude 3 times before why wait til now to kill the bastard? Guess Zarqawi's political capital with the BFEE expired. :eyes:

Thanks for that image. :puke:

It continues to amaze me how BushCo have no earthly clue about what happens during a guerilla war. One of the reasons why guerillas are so much more effective than conventional armies in certain circumstance is because they are able to shift tactics rapidly to take advantage of political events. Rummie seems to think that the insurgents are like the Soviet Army, needing months or years to plan offensives, when the reality is more of small cells quickly deciding to take advantage of opportunistic targets.

Also, the obsessive focus on eliminating Al Qaeda's 'leaders' misses the point that the organization is more of an inspirational and logistical operation than a 'revolutionary movement.' For every action directly carried out by 'Al Qaeda,' there are hundred carried out in its name by people who have probably never met a 'leader.'

Our government is so out of touch with the reality of the mess they're in that I'm at a loss to understand where they're getting their information.

"We're shocked, and stunned."

"Yeah, and we're also stunned and shocked."

:eyes: