Bombs kill at least 31 in Baghdad

[Bhaisahab]

A string of bombs that killed at least 31 people in Baghdad have underlined warnings by US and Iraqi officials that violence will not cease with the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq.

Police say the deadliest blast, a roadside bomb in a crowded market in the eastern New Baghdad district, killed 13 people and wounded 28.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1658957.htm

[BrklynLiberal]

1. You mean Zarqawi's death has not put a stop to all this???

:sarcasm:


I am sure that BushCo was hoping it would, or at least that the sheeple would believe it would.

[TomInTib]

2. Those bombings were already in the playbook. Didn't you get

the memo?

This Zarqawi breastbeating is bs.

Take it from an old Special Forces (SEAL) guy - once Zarqawi was getting the spotlight back then, he was already toast.

There is, literally, not a person in the world that a consortium force of SF could not locate.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Does that mean that Osama is "not being found" on purpose?

[daleo]

4. An excellent question, given the setup. n/t

[TomInTib]

5. He is either dead or on life-support in some secure setting.

And will be 'trapped' and 'killed' in a firefight.

It will be 'mano o mano' with Special Forces, no airstrike.

Jessica Lynch redux.

[BrklynLiberal]

6. I heard at least one person theorize that was exactly how Zarqawi was

"caught".

[TomInTib]

7. This was not an instant strike.

If so, it would have been helicopter rockets. They weren't that far from major bases.

These bombs were dropped from F-16s which were missioned with advanced planning.

Those planes are not activated under 'look what we've found' field observations. We cannot afford the luxury of presumptive bombings anymore.

They had been watching the site for days.

Count on it.

on edit: keep in mind those guys had nowhere to go. I would bet SF teams had that hamlet locked down tight.

But I could be wrong. I wasn't there.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Could they have done the amount of bombing that was described and

still have had enough of his body left to be able to ID him?

[TomInTib]

9. Yes. With a 500 lb bomb, a mere wall could keep a body intact.

If the bomb had landed in the same room, he would have been shattered.

But one room away, merely jellified. The shock wave (pressure) would have turned his soft organs into a real mess.

[file83]

12. A wall for a 500 lb bomb is as insignificant as rice paper to a fist.

If he was in the next room to where the 500 lb bomb detonated he would have been shredded to pieces. No, he would have had to have been below ground or outside of the building to have only had "shockwave" internal injuries and superficial external injuries. The photos only show minimal damage and blood. He wasn't anywhere near the detonation point.

[TomInTib]

13. From what I saw, that was a reinforced concrete building.

Have you been around much bombing? I have.

It's weird, kind of like tornado damage.

I am willing to believe this.

[file83]

14. Did you look at the photos?

Like I said, total destruction. If he was in the "next room" then his body would not look like that - the walls gone, look at that crater.



http://apnews.myway.com/image/20060608/IRAQ_AL_ZARQAWI.sff_NY137_20060608183347.html?date=20060609&docid=D8I4EIIO1

[Tempest]

17. There were two 500 pound bombs

Even if the wall survived the first blast, it would have been obiviated in the second blast.

And from the pictures of the building, nothing survived intact.

[heliarc]

10. Political reasons

Don't you think there might be some pretty compelling political reasons why Osama is NOT in US custody somewhere, like the fact that he is related to the Saudi Royal Family?

Seems a plausible scenario to me... not to rain on an ex SF guy's parade. I'm sure you could locate anybody and kill them with extreme prejudice and all that, but what if higher powers are holding you back. That's not too hard for me to believe either cowboy.

[file83]

11. To all the fools that thought Al-Zarqawi was the "leader" making

the insurgency possible...wake the hell up.

[saigon68]

15. The sheep are asleep in their heated water-beds

They are waiting for their President (Cheney) to give them permission to take a shit.

[Tempest]

18. As was pointed out yesterday, Zarqawi controlled very little

He was in charge of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which makes up about 5% of the total insurgency.

As experts were saying yesterday, the Sunni and Shia militia groups are the real problem.

[xchrom]

16. but, but, but! zarqawi! zarqawi! zarqawi!

zarqawi! -- just in case...

[Halliburton]

19. must've been before Zarqawi was killed

he was the mastermind of this whole thing afterall.