Zarqawi May Have Acted On Bad Intelligence

Commentary by Greg Lewis / TheRant.US
November 22, 2005

A recently released apology by the terrorist Abu Musab al Zarqawi indicates that he in fact might not have intended to target the members of a wedding party who were celebrating at the Radisson Hotel in Amman, Jordan, and that, in fact, he may have been the victim of "bad intelligence" when he gave the order to go ahead with three terrorist bombings in that city that killed upwards of 60 innocent Arabs.

Western news sources were quick to publish his "apology" for having killed so many of his countrymen (Zarqawi hails from the Jordanian town of Zarqa, hence his surname) and to admit that "in the run-up to war, when one's followers are threatened, it is understandable that 'mistakes can happen.'"

In fact, the matter is now under investigation by a blue-ribbon panel of experts headed by no less than Osama bin Laden himself. A Reuters reporter with whom I spoke on condition of anonymity vigorously downplayed the notion that bin Laden was merely trying to get back into the international media limelight by volunteering to head this blue-ribbon panel. "Osama bin Laden doesn't need to 'gravy-train' his lieutenants' notoriety in order for the world to know that he is 'da man' when it comes to international terrorism," my Reuters source said.

The wife of one of the perpetrators of the atrocity, who has publicly confessed to her failed role as a homicide bomber in a televised statement aired on Al-Jazeera, has since set up camp on the outskirts of what she insists is al Zarqawi's vacation home in western Iraq. She has demanded a meeting with the terrorist leader, saying that her husband was killed in this senseless attack and that Zarqawi owes her and others who are devastated by the loss of life in this senseless intifada an explanation. Zarqawi's spokespeople were not available for comment.

In the face of the rapidly evolving story of the possible undermining of al Zarqawi's power as the de facto head of Al Qaeda in bin Laden's absence by the revelation that al Zarqawi may have intentionally falsified intelligence in order to carry out the Jordan homicide bombings, speculation has been rampant.

Some have even suggested that Rahib "Scooter" Mubaresh, one of Zarqawi's trusted lieutenants, might have leaked false information to Al-Jazeera about the ethnic and national identity of the people who were supposed to be in attendance at the Radisson on the date of the bombing.

The investigation is ongoing. In the wake of this serious blow to his credibility, and the possibility that one of his trusted lieutenants might be called on to resign, it appears that al Zarqawi remains determined to continue his terrorist offensive against "the Great Satan" as if nothing had happened.