Zarqawi autopsy over, results withheld

[ECH1969]

A US military autopsy was finished on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on Sunday, but the findings were not immediately released by American officials.

"The autopsy is completed. However, we are not releasing results yet," Maj. William Willhoite told The Associated Press.

U.S. commanders initially said al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, died in the airstrike but later said he survived and died soon after.

An Iraqi man on Saturday raised questions about al-Zarqawi's death, telling AP Television News he saw U.S. soldiers after the airstrike beating an injured man who resembled the dead terrorist leader until blood flowed from his nose.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2006-06/12/content_613989.htm

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. I guess they're trying to figure out

how to spin Ver 5.0 of the Zarqawi story.

[IndianaGreen]

30. Well, let's count those versions, shall we? (here we go again!)

Version #1: Zarqawi killed by two 500 pound bombs.

Version #2: Zarqawi survived the bombing, mumbled something as he was put in a stretcher, and then died.

Version #3: Zarqawi survived the bombing, but tried to escape as he was put in a stretcher, but died shortly thereafter.

Version #4: US denies Iraqi eyewitness account of US troops beating a man resembling Zarqawi in the head, after wrapping his head in a headdress.

Version #5: (Awaiting autopsy results)

I am baffled by the latest claim that they are waiting for DNA results. Why? They were so sure they got Zarqawi. Who do they think they have, his twin?

[daleo]

35. Maybe they are trying to figure out how many legs the corpse had

That leg business got tricky with Zarqawi.

[saigon68]

43. Maybe Sabrina can help out

[daleo]

44. Sabrina seems to know her way around a dead body, all right

She seems amazingly comfortable with the whole experience.

[mallard]

37. Re: baffled

"I am baffled by the latest claim that they are waiting for DNA results."


They're buying time while people move on and forget which of these versions will most satisfy their own sense of personal balance - so's to preclude the need for a #6.

Thank you for the run-down. It should be on every front page in America, but isn't because our press still supports the war on terra.

[Blue_Tires]

48. i get dizzy just trying to keep their stories straight

[Ready4Change]

2. From what I've heard of the state of the body...

... I'm guessing "someone" offered Zarqawi to the US, with instructions to bomb X location, then delay examining it for Y time. After the bombs hit, whoever this was deposited Zarqawi within, either dead, or in some state where he would still be there when US troops arrived.

500lb bombs don't leave pretty corpses behind.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Of course they are!

Was anyone expecting a transparent, straightforward porcess?

[Botany]

4. Oh for the love of God ....

Why didn't they just put a bullet in him?

If indeed it is true that he was beaten to death; then this will inflame many in the
Islamic world further.

Congrats pResident bush .... we might now be deeper in the hole that is Iraq.


IRAQ =

[Sydnie]

15. I saved this just for YOU

sweet Botany!

[Botany]

21. Did I ever tell you that you are my Fav?

[mike_c]

22. I don't mean to intrude on a private conversation...

...but that is an AWESOME photo! Thanks for posting it!

[Sydnie]

23. Great story around it too

The tabby treed the cub not once, but twice. the cat was very territorial and the cub was separated from his parents (who were also roaming the cat's yard!). The cub came down once only to be treed in another tree by the cat shortly there after.

Now that is a cat I would love to own ... or allow to own me, as in probably more the case.

Glad you like it! :hi:

[Canuckistanian]

28. Just as I was looking at your pic

I heard the story about it on AAR. The very second!

The cat's name is Jack.

[Thickasabrick]

5. Isn't it sad to think our country could stoop so low that it would "stage"

this guy's death. I am so ashamed of my country.

[acmejack]

10. Why, we staged Jessica lynch's "Rescue" and it was such a hit

That we did a spectacular capture scene shortly thereafter!

[Thickasabrick]

12. Crap! I almost forgot about that......this is getting scary.

[Sydnie]

17. And Pat Tilman ... don't forget that story they spun either n./t

[Botany]

20. I live in Columbus, OH

Home of Ohio State ....

I still remember first learning about Pat Tillman for the 1997 Rose Bowl

OSU was playing Arizona State ...... on both sides players were running their mouths
Pat would have none of it. He kept his mouth shut and was quoted after Ohio State
won that they played a great game. He was wise beyond his years.


He left millions of $s on the table to join the Rangers (Army elite) w/ his younger
brother after 9/11 ..... he went to Afghanistan to fight the real evil and was pissed off
@ bush's Iraqi war .... he was scheduled to meet w/ peace activist Norm Chomsky (spelling ????)
when he was killed by US troops in still unknown circumstances ........

He was one of the good ones and we are all lucky to have had him around.



Long May You Run Pat (N. Young)

Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining in the sun
Long may you run.

[Johng333]

6. Iraqi soldier got their first and were there when US arrived

"After the national Iraqi police arrived to the scene and got the injured, got the dead sorted out. In an hour or so, I think, coalition forces have arrived to the scene also to help in the logistics of the operation afterward," Iraqi National Security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie told CNN."


The so called witness is obviously wrong. Not the first and not the last time. Hell, Kennedy got killed in front of hundreds of witnesses and there was a film and people still can't agree on what they saw.

[TheWatcher]

9. The fact you can even parallel this with the Kennedy Assassination

And with a straight face claim there is some sort of relevant point, is beyond breathtaking.

Welcome to DU.

You should be entertaining to watch.

[Sydnie]

14. They got their first what?

:shrug:

Haditha, Abu Ghirab, ... they have lied too many times and done too many things to give them another "fool me" moment.

Welcome to DU. Enjoy your stay. :hi:

[alfredo]

36. I don't think this is a heat of the moment witness situation.

The problem isn't witnesses to a horrific event that happens in a blink of the eye. This is something that took place over a long period of time. I think we can agree that they have been consistent in saying the Iraqis got there first. That is understandable because they were in the neighborhood.

The changing story is all too familiar. Everything they have told could be true, but we have been lied to so many times it is understandable for many to be skeptical. I want to be able to believe them.

[saracat]

46. Wow! Why would you think the witness was wrong after all the lies the army

has told? Jessica Lynch, Pat Tillman and the countless previous Abu Musab al-Zarqawi deaths!

[ima_sinnic]

7. gee, I NEVER could have predicted that

(and I was able to just click on that subject line from how many previous posts as it came up automatically as I started to type)

is it okay to say now that somebody conspired about something to do with Zarqawi's death? Either the circumstances, the timing, the method, or all of the above?

[PSPS]

8. Waiting for Poindexter's "Department of Truth Maintenance" imprimatur

[Johng333]

11. shouldn't you wait for some proof of conspiracy before shouting you see on

This may have been a cleverly staged situation. Yelling about a conspiracy before there is any shred of proof only diminishes the power of our voices when we speak out against actual misdeeds.

My point about Kenedy was to say eye witness accounts are not always reliable. Period.


Remember Richard Jewel, Atlanta Olymipics bombing? He was tried and convicted in the press, later he was found innocent and no one cared to tell the public.


I favor gathering informaiton, making an informed decision, then taking action when there is proof not just speculation. Is that wrong? Are we not in favor of innocent until proven guilty?

[chill_wind]

13. The innocent Bush Cheney Rumsfeld

intelligence apparatus.

There's an image. Where do they keep finding you guys?

[Johng333]

18. Huh??

Your post was unclear so I can't repsond directly.

I am certainly not defending Bush. There is no concrete evidence to indicate this was a consipiracy. There was a task force assigned to get Zarqawi. They had two near misses in last few months.

If information comes forth then take action. Otherwise yelling conspiracy at every shadow makes you sound like Rush Limbaugh, and really, who wants to sound like him? We laugh at him for his idiocy. It is a trap worthy of avoiding.

[wtmusic]

24. Don't hold your breath waiting for information to "come forth"

Information has already come forth. The DOD says it's "baloney". What convinces you to give the DOD the benefit of the doubt, after they covered up Haditha for 6 months? The burden is on them at this point.

[ToolTex]

27. There is no bottom to their crimes.

They keep claiming "ongoing investigation" until it is "old news" and not worth talking about. Well, they are right. They are not worth consideration. They are serial criminals!

[ima_sinnic]

40. there is as usual a cover up--of something. coverup = conspiracy

don't bother coming around lecturing about how "yelling conspiracy" makes "you sound."
name ONE incident in the entire 6 surreal years of government by thugs and liars that has not been manipulated and stage-managed. since their entire mission is to divert the U.S. Treasury to their own personal pockets, to establish a war-based economy when no wars were justified, and to plunder the resources of the world--but to make it all look "democratic" and "humanitarian" (or whatever), the need for conspiring is acute.

[fooj]

16. The autopsy is COMPLETE.

That's proof enough for me considering the criminals that we are dealing with! What is the reason for holding back the autopsy findings? I'll give you THREE guesses...

[zonmoy]

19. They obiously need to fake the autopsy findings

to prop up the lies already told and to cover up their crimes.

[Gregorian]

25. It's hard work DECIDING which lie to tell.

Nothing gets past the dictator Decider. Then he'll run it past Rove, and Rummy, and Fox, and then it'll be released.



None of it matters. Soldiers beating a man tells us everything we need to know. Maybe an eye witness is lying. I kind of doubt he'd have any real reason to.

[IndianaGreen]

32. BREAKING: Photos of Zarqawi's autopsy just posted by DOD

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6303690106/ref=ase_csicop/002-2373518-6496009?s=video&v=glance&n=404272&tagActionCode=csicop

[letsgonova19087]

26. *delete*

*self-deleted*

[mallard]

50. Re: eye-witness vs. ever-changing official accounts

"My point about Kenedy was to say eye witness accounts are not always reliable. Period."


You might as easily make the point that reliable eye-witness accounts don't necessarily carry any weight.

People who have consistently (see also: time and again) lied about what's going on in Iraq - and why we're even there - are denying an eye-witness claim that an injured Zarkawi was beaten to death by US troops dispatched to his freshly bomb-gutted hoem. The US admits he was still alive after the bombing and in hands of the side wanting him dead.

The only reason not to ill him is that extrajudiial execution is barbaric. What makes it delivered OK from an F-16, and not up close and personal is hard to say.

If you don't see what's wrong with the truth showing up senseless US oppression for what it is, I would suggest you may prefer not to.

There's always the magic bullet theory to match images of Zarkawi pleading with his captives for resuscitation and dying as they tried to save him after the bomb didn't do the job.


Z was no longer an asset to the occupation. They could have done this assassination a long time ago otherwise.

[Johng333]

29. the Truth comes out - eventually

Not waiting for the administration to tell me the "truth". That does not mean that the truth won't come out.

When you use unfounded allegations to attack all you do is feed into the GOP line that liberals are conspiracy freaks.

Nothing will be lost by waiting and gathering information. A few days and more information will come out. More and more slips out all the time.

So far the only concrete thing has been that people "feel" there was something wrong. An unconfirmed alleged witness said that he saw Americans beating a wounded bearded man. Maybe it is true, but it was another man, who was armed, and the soldiers were acting to subdue him.

Maybe it was just like it sounds. I have heard Rush Limbaugh, clown of the GOP, and his lunatic ranting. I would hate to have anyone else resemble him. No harm in waiting a few days and getting all the info.

[UpInArms]

31. So if the info does not come out "in a few days" or a few weeks

do we just wait for a few years and give these serial liars a pass?

btw - welcome to DU! :hi:

[ima_sinnic]

41. nobody "feels" that "there was something wrong"--we all KNOW it

and I'm not even taking into consideration the alleged Iraqi witness--even without him the story and highly suspicious photo are a joke because as noted upthread there are now, what, 5 or 6 revisions of what would have been a straightforward story with easily documented evidence, IF any of it were true. (Why do they show ONLY "Zarqawi's face in the photo, for one thing?)

I'm sure you wish we would all shut up for "a few days" until the next outrage occurs and this is forgotten and swept under the rug into the mountain of lies and atrocities that are now actually too big to fit under the rug.

--and your concern for what Rush Limbaugh thinks of us is most touching --

NOT

[rocktivity]

33. The Onion strikes again!

Just when you think they couldn't possibly top themselves, they pull off another howler! First the Bush camp claims that Zarqawi was killed by bombs. Then they claim he was found injured in order to explain why his body was still intact. Then they turn him over to the Iraqis, in whose custody he dies. Then the Iraqis give him back to U.S. custody for the autopsy. Then they say the autopsy is completed but they're not going to release the results? Cut it out, guys, you're killing me!!! :rofl:

I don't know why this is on a Chinese web site rather than their own, but that doesn't make it any less hilarious. Bravo, Onion.com!

:headbang:
rocknation

[IndianaGreen]

34. Zarqawi's body is being kept in Baghdad under a 24-hour guard.

His body is being kept in Baghdad under a 24-hour guard.

<snip>

The US military was also awaiting the results on DNA tests on al-Zarqawi.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/847ED957-FF3C-40ED-A7C0-8DEC0111F428.htm

Are they afraid that Zarqawi might rise from the dead? Why the DNA tests? Aren't they sure?

[arikara]

39. OK, this might be a dumb question, but

Where did they get his DNA to begin with? If they could get a DNA sample before, then why didn't they just "get" him?

[afrosia]

42. He was arrested by the Iraqi Police

...a while back but 'let go due to confusion'. They might have got it then?

[daleo]

45. I doubt that they get DNA samples from people and let them go

I think they will compare the DNA to close relatives, and make some sort of determination that way. Or at least that's what they will claim.

They may claim that they got a toothbrush from a previous safe house, or something like that, but it wouldn't prove anything, for obvious reasons (chain of evidence).

[Vidar]

38. Quel surpris!

[VegasWolf]

47. Guess covering up the freezer marks proved too difficult. nt

[ProudDad]

49. That's because those cowards in U.S. uniforms

killed him after the blast...