On the recent killing "al-Zarqawi’s 2nd in command"

​​​"Does Zarqawi have an infinite supply of lieutenants/deputies/aides/associates/second-in-commands/etc., or do we just arbitrarily declare that every 100th insurgent we capture or kill is "a top aide" to Zarqawi?
Below is an almost comprehensive list (I’m sure I missed a few) of Zarqawi’s "top lieutenants" we’ve captured, killed, or acknowledged over the last two and a half years. I count 33."

Kiss of Death September 27, 2005

Some ’Intelligence’ are intelligent enough to question this abundance of "top lietenants":

"U.S. intelligence officials and counterterrorism analysts are questioning whether a slain terrorist-described by President Bush today as the “second-most-wanted Al Qaeda leader in Iraq”-was as significant a figure as the Bush administration is claiming."
The ’Second’ Man: The slain Abu Azzam may not have been Zarqawi’s top deputy after all September 29, 2005

Recalling that back in 2004, it was reported :

"A Jordanian extremist suspected of bloody suicide attacks in Iraq was killed some time ago in U.S. bombing and a letter outlining plans for fomenting sectarian war is a forgery, a statement allegedly from an insurgent group west of the capital said.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in the Sulaimaniyah mountains of northern Iraq “during the American bombing there,” according to a statement circulated in Fallujah this week and signed by the “Leadership of the Allahu Akbar Mujahedeen.”
The statement did not say when al-Zarqawi was supposedly killed, but U.S. jets bombed strongholds of the extremist Ansar al-Islam in the north last April as Saddam Hussein’s regime was collapsing.

It said al-Zarqawi was unable to escape the bombing because of his artificial leg.
Before the Iraq conflict began last March, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said al-Zarqawi received hospital treatment in Baghdad after fleeing Afghanistan. U.S. intelligence sources said he apparently was fitted with an artificial leg.
The statement said the “fabricated al-Zarqawi memo” has been used by the U.S.-run coalition “to back up their theory of a civil war” in Iraq."
Iraq militants claim al-Zarqawi is dead March 4, 2004.

Kiss of Death

Does Zarqawi have an infinite supply of lieutenants/deputies/aides/associates/second-in-commands/etc., or do we just arbitrarily declare that every 100th insurgent we capture or kill is "a top aide" to Zarqawi?

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Below is an almost comprehensive list (I’m sure I missed a few) of Zarqawi’s "top lieutenants" we’ve captured, killed, or acknowledged over the last two and a half years. I count 33.

Abu Azzam (9/27/05)

"The No. 2 official in the al-Qaida in Iraq organization.’

"The top deputy to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."

Mohammed Salah Sutton, aka Abu Zubair (8/14/05)

"A lieutenant of al-Qaida terror boss Abu Musab al Zarqawi."

Abu Abd al-Aziz (7/13/05)

"Zarqawi’s ’main leader in Baghdad’"

Khalid Suleiman Darwish, aka Abu Alghadiya (6/26/05)

A Syrian dentist...was described by Arab media as the ’number two’ in Iraq’s al Qaeda network and tipped to succeed its leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi."

Mohammed Khalaf Shakar, aka Abu Talha (6/17/05)

"A top lieutenant of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."

Mullah Mahdi, aka Abu Abdul Rahman (6/4/05)

"Suspected deputy of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi"

Abu Karrar (5/27/05)

"The Washington Post quoted a Zarqawi lieutenant by the nom-de-guerre of Abu Karrar as saying the Jordanian militant was shot and wounded in fighting with US forces near the western city of Ramadi."

Mullah Kamel al-Assawadi (5/25/05)

"Described as one of al-Zarqawi’s top lieutenants."

Agha Umar (5/25/05)

"A top aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi"

Amar Adnan Muhammad Hamzah al-Zubaydi, aka Abu al-Abbas (5/9/05)

"A high-ranking aide to terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."

Ghassan Muhammed Amin Husayn al-Rawi (4/26/05)

"A key associate of Iraq’s most wanted militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."

Hamza Ali Ahmed al-Wdimizyar, aka Abu Majid (beginning of April-05)

"Zarqawi associate"

Salman Aref Abulkadir Khwamurad al-Zardowe, aka Abu Sharif (beginning of April-05)

"Zarqawi associate"

Taifor Abulsattar Malallah (3/8/05)

"One of the ’princes’ of Musab al-Zarqawi’s terrorist group."

Talib Mikhlif Arsan Walman al-Dulaymi, aka Abu Qutaybah (2/25/05)

"Iraqi forces have captured a man described as a trusted aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."

Mohammed Najm Ibrahim, aka Mohammed Najm (2/25/05)

"Zarqawi lieutenant"

Adel Mujtaba, aka Abu Rim (2/20/05)

"A propaganda chief of al-Qaeda’s frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi"

Anat Mohammed Hamat al-Kays, aka Abu Alid (1/28/05)

"High-level Zarqawi lieutenant"

Sami Mohammed Ali Said Jaaf, aka Abu Omar Kurdi (1/25/05)

"A senior aide to Abu Musab al Zarqawi"

"The ’most lethal’ top lieutenant of Al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq."

Ismael Jeddan (1/23/05)

"The raids also netted a man identified as Ismael Jeddan, an alleged associate of al-Zarqawi."

Ali Hamad Ardani Yasin Isawi (1/20/05)

"top lieutenant"

Inad Mohammed Qais (1/20/05)

"The deputy prime minister for national security affairs, Barham Salih, later told a news conference that authorities have arrested a third Zarqawi lieutenant."

Salah Salman Idaaj Matar Luhaybi, aka Abu Sayf (12/31/04)

"Zarqawi’s chief of operations in Baghdad"

Fadil Hussain Ahmed al-Kurdi, aka Abu Ubaydah al-Kurdi, aka Ridha (12/30/04)

"A senior member of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s network."

Abdul Aziz Sa’dun Ahmed Hamduni, aka Abu Ahmed (12/22/04)

"Zarqawi-linked leader"

Hassan Ibrahim Farhan Zyda (12/14/04)

"An aide to Iraq’s most-wanted man, Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi"

Abu Saeed (11/26/04)

"A lieutenant of Iraq’s most feared terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi"

Nameless (10/23/04)

The US military has arrested a ’senior leader’ in the network run by Jordanian mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."

Omar Yusef Juma’a, aka Abu Anas al-Shami (9/25/04)

"A senior aide of the Jordanian al Qaeda mastermind, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi"

Umar Baziyani (6/4/04)

"A top aide of al-Qaeda suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi"
"His capture removes one of Zarqawi’s most valuable officers from his network."

Abu Mohammed Hamza (2/24/04)

"A key lieutenant to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."

Hassan Ghul (2/23/04)

"The letter was found on al-Zarqawi lieutenant Hassan Ghul, a Pakistani captured in Iraq."

The letter in reference was a "17-page letter to senior al Qaeda leaders written by terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who asked for help starting a Muslim civil war between Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites."

Nameless (4/30/03)

"An associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been captured in the Baghdad area."

---

From the looks of it, I think everyone in Iraq is about two-degrees from Zarqawi.

Note also that after many of these announcements, we were told that it would be a "fatal blow" to the Iraqi insurgency or that we were oh-so close to capturing Zarqawi himself.

embedded links: http://blogenlust.typepad.com/blogenlust/2005/09/kiss_of_death.html

Make Your Own

Headline:

[top | important | most wanted | close | key] al-Zarqawi [aide | lieutenant | associate | "cell prince" | figure] captured

Dateline:

(some date) (some place in Iraq)

Body:

[Iraqi | US | US and Iraqi] forces have [nabbed | captured | arrested] [a | one | two] senior [figure | operations chief | terrorist operative] of [Jordanian | al-Qaeda-linked | Iraq’s most wanted] terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi.

(arabic name), also know as (other arabic name), was detained on (some date) during an [Iraqi police | US military | US and Iraqi] [raid | road block | operation] in (some place in Iraq).

[spokesman | US General | Iraqi minister] said ["major catch" | "significant impact" | "big step forward"].

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2005/06/make_your_own.html