MY WIFE HAS LOST THE FIRST SMILE she had in the last five years. Damn the Bush Administration and its ability to catch Al Qaeda’s number two man in Iraq again and again and again. [story] My wife says that is a lot of number twos even for an administration she now says is full of sh*t. My wife says if all these new faces are number two and Zarqawi is number one, that explains why Bush treats Osama like a zero and nothing need be done. How that hurts me I think you know. Damn this Bush administration and its ability to boldly announce itself about all its number two. Now I will never get laid.
MORE ON NUMBER TWO HERE
[Blogenlust] 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.THE HERETIK BELIEVES 33 number twos is thirty two too many. But these claims do come from the same administration that suggests Social Security could be solved in a non zero sum game. 1+1 = 11
ALLEGED, AND THEN ALLEGED AGAIN [No More Mister Nice Blog] Did you suspect that Abu Azzam, reportedly killed recently and said to be Zarqawi's #2 man, wasn't the first "top Zarqawi lieutenant" to be identified? In Newsweek, Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball round up evidence that you're right. The Isikoff/Hosenball story is link-free, but I've added links:
... For nearly two years now, U.S. officials have touted previous arrests or captures ... as developments that would cripple the insurgency.
In January 2004, for example, the U.S. military announced the arrest in Fallajuh of Husam al-Yemeni, who was described in press accounts out of Baghdad as the "right-hand man" of Zarqawi. In November 2004, Iraqi officials announced they had arrested in Mosul a man named Abu Saaed, who was described by the Iraqi national-security adviser as Zarqawi's "alleged lieutenant."
THE HERETIK THINKS the alleged pursuit of top terrorists is more PR than WAR. Where is Osama?
MORE ON PAGE FOUR [Get Your Blog On] I realize that the Bush administration is searching for any semblance of good news in the war to trumpet up as success, but didn't they think that someone would look into the claims that the now dead Abu Azzam was the number two man in Al Qaeda? Or does the administration just realize that a big headline followed by a page four retraction will still garner positive news?
THE HERETIK NOTES this administration has never had a problem making announcements. See Ashcroft in Moscow of all places. Getting results that match the rhetoric is the difference between day and night. But it is hard to say where there is light. If the results are dark, then the rhetoric must be light, right? But the rhetoric is nothing and sheds no true light. Oy.
HOW MANY MORE, HOW MANY TIMES? [Presstitutes] Scott Shields at MyDD informs us that some Pre$$titutes may actually have done what they should have been doing the past four years: question Bush's "terror" triumphalism. From MyDD:
"The media has seemed completely incapable of recognizing that maybe not every al Qaeda figure we eliminate is as important as the administration claims he is.
. . . . And here's a question for the Washington Pre$$titute Corps: do you intend to hold Bush and his team accountable for lying about Abu Azzam's importance?
THE HERETIK IS WAITING for that answer too.
BUSH ISN'T GETTING IT He just announced the rosy news again in the Rose Garden with his generals [White House]
They updated me on what recently took place in Baghdad, in which Iraqi and coalition forces tracked down and killed Abu Azzam, the second most wanted al Qaeda leader in Iraq. This guy is a brutal killer. He was one of Zarqawi's top lieutenants. He was reported to be the top operational commander of al Qaeda in Baghdad. He is one of the terrorists responsible for the recent upsurge in attacks in the Iraqi capital, which is part of their campaign to stop a referendum on the Iraqi constitution, and is part of their efforts to break the will of the American people and the will of our coalition.
THE HERETIK NOTES the construction of that statement in the passive voice. He was reported to be . . . like the White House isn't doing the reporting itself. And whether "the terrorist" is breaking the will of the American people or the White House is open to question. One thing is certain. Sixty six percent of the American people are against the war, so when will Bush listen?
It's like killing PBS isn't enough, so we're running Sesame Street in an endless loop:
TWO! Mwah hah hah!
TWO! Mwah hah hah!
TWO! Mwah hah hah!
That's what happens when a guy named Grover goes gunning for the Children's Television Workshop.
Posted by: Tata | September 29, 2005 at 07:14 AM
George Bush is insane! It's really that simple. Just because he smiles and wears a nice suit doesn't mean he's any less of a whack job than all those wild-eyed, urin-stained nut bags who babble on street corners about Jesus throught a bull-horn. He's getting desperate. It's like Madonna when she needs attention. She has to keep upping the ante.
Posted by: Missouri Mule | September 29, 2005 at 01:51 PM