Does al-Zarqawi exist?

[bemildred]

Baghdad - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's faction has claimed responsibility for attacks that have left hundreds of Iraqis dead, and the United States has called him the most dangerous terrorist in Iraq.

Still, even as al-Zarqawi threatens more chaos - in recordings and internet messages - many Iraqis believe the Jordanian militant does not even exist and is merely a phantom created by the Americans to sow unrest in the country.

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"Zarqawi is ... a myth that America has created to put a face to the terrorism it wants to stoke in this country to justify its continued presence," Sheik Amer al-Husseini, a top aide to radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

"If there was no more terrorism in Iraq, there would be no reason for the United States to remain ... making it harder for them to ... force this constitution on Iraqis," said al-Husseini.

News24

[colonel odis]

1. zarqawi and kaiser zose.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. If he really exists, the man is a medical marvel and the luckiest

SOB on the face of the earth. Look how many times he has been wounded, almost caught, lost a leg etc. The man must have nine lives. He also must have an intelligence network that would our own FBI and CIA would love to have. He always manages to stay just a step ahead of the greatest military force in the world today. He must be getting good information from someplace. Not to mention the fact that he is apparently proficient at telekinesis. How else could you explain the how he is able to strike so many times from so many places without being seen? Truly an amazing man!

[tatertop]

3. Didn't al-Sadr just denounce Zarqawi?

But here we have al-Sadr's aide saying Zarqawi does not exist.

[bemildred]

4. IRAQ: AL-SADR SPOKESMAN ACCUSES AL-ZARQAWI OF DIVIDING SHIITES

Baghdad, 21 Sept. (AKI) - The statement put out by al-Zarqawi's al-Qaeda in Iraq group on Tuesday, saying they would only strike the Shiites who don't condemn attacks on Sunnis or the US occupation of Iraq, has provoked a harsh response from one of the groups named as not being a target. "In Abu Musab al-Zarqawi making an exception in our case, the Jordanian terrorist is trying to force a split within the Shiite world," said Riad Nur, spokesman for the movement of rebel Shiite imam Moqtada al-Sadr, when interviewed by the Arab newspaper al-Hayat.

"With yesterday's statement, in which our movement was excluded from al-Qaeda's total war on the Shiites, he is trying to divide the Shiite school, insinuating that there is a internal conflict between the groups," Nur said.

The Shiite spokesman went on to call on the Jordanian insurgent leader and his followers to immediately leave Iraq and stressed that "for our movement, al-Zarqawi is nothing but an enemy and if he falls into the hands of our militia he will be torn apart."

At the end of August al-Sadr was forced to call for calm after clashes broke out between rival Shiite factions in the south of the country, leaving several people dead and scores more injured. Following the violence, some 3,000 of his supporters marched through the streets of Basra, waving placards with slogans demanding an end to the US-led military force's presence in Iraq.

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.210442682&par=

[tatertop]

5. So he is both 'a myth' and 'nothing but an enemy.'

I suppose it depends on who they are talking to.

[bemildred]

6. That's the nice thing about myths. They depend on whoever is talking. nt

[oblivious]

7. Laughable -- a myth manufactured by the DOD and popularised by AP.

Amazing it's been so successful given the ridiculous assumptions required to make it believable.

The Power of AP. Wow!