Black ties at the BBC today. For the rest of us the sun is out, it's a hot one and there's this is a great excuse for a drink later.

Cheers to whoever dropped that bomb on his head.

Maybe he tried to shoot at the American bomber ... oh wait .. he can't shoot a gun ...

I trust an independent watchdog verified that this raid was justified. I'd hate to think of anyone's human rights being trampled upon by the ruthless US forces.

Whoever it was, great shot guys! Who's next?

Hah! USAF got him at last. Apparently his fatal mistake was putting a clearly visible Union Jack on his roof :)

This is a bit of good news from Iraq that even the most anti-invasion members of the MSM can't ignore. I do hope it was a drone that got him...preferably operated by a female member of the military.

Prediction: some lefty moonbat will whine that Halliburton stock will go up.

Is there any of him left for the virgins?

Forget Haliburton stock. Oil futures dropped a dollar!

It wasn't just Mr Z, they got 7 of his pals as well. I haven't laughed so much since the Israelis blew that nut-job Hamas "sheikh" out of his wheelchair.

Apparently (Sidney Morning Herald) Mr Z was wounded but still alive when US ground-forces nabbed him. He was then handed over to the Iraqi Army but latter died of his injuries. Interpret that how you may but considering his record of attacking Iraqi Security Force recruits...

Apparently it was hubris that gave the game away. He'd released a video and somebody figured out where he was. He'd also recently released an audio recording which consisted of a 4 hour rant against Shia Islam. That must've been interesting.

Well he's in paradise now, according to his brother. Oddly enough the brother of Ken Bigley thinks he's "rotting in hell". I leave it to the commentariat to decide which of these visions they find more plausible.

permanent expat,
I do so hope the bastard's dick was blown to Allah ahead of the rest of Mr Z.

72 virgins and nothing to do...

Of course it would have been better news if Abu Musab Zarqawi had repented of his crimes and handed himself over for punishment, however this is still good news.

As for the politics of this (and these things are mainly political matters - as has been pointed out Zarqaqi was not much of a military man) it is nothing like as important as the capture or proved killing of O.M.L. wold be.

Certainly he is not an operational commander, but he is of vital political importance.

"But his death would simply stir up the desire for revenge" - not really, our enemies will do all they can to kill us whether O.M.L. is alive or dead.

He was the person who organised the attacks on September 11th 2001 (contrary to various cranks) and he MUST be captured or killed.

Almost five years have passed since the attacks and it is not acceptable for him to be at large any more.

Of course I would also like his deputy to be either captured or killed and the Taliban leader Omar to be either captured or to be confirmed dead.

But the capture or killing of O.B.L. is not optional - it must be done, and it must be done soon.

I agree, Paul - it's one of the few events that could plausibly arrest the slide of the Bush presidency at this stage.

Zarqawi's death is still a considerable propaganda coup for the Americans, however.

One hopes he has the decency to stay dead this time.

The BBC World were in a rather celbratory mood when I watched their feed in Sweden 2 hours ago.

Good one.

Now i take issue with last commentaries. Catching a man in hidding is one of most dificult things to do. We just have to think of Radovan Karadzic in Europe or the decades Israelis spent searching for Nazis...

I would have liked to have seen some comment on this from Verity. Does anyone have any news on her?

The BBC were celebrating? I would have thought that the BBC would be lamenting the "passing of so many brave fighters for freedom against the oppressive Great and Lesser Satans currently occupying Iraq".

Remind me to put a Union Jack on the roof of Tony Blair's house ...

I would have liked to have seen some comment on this from Verity. Does anyone have any news on her?

My guess is she was piloting the drone...

Julian,

You ought to know better. The Americans aren't the only people who do blue on blue. RAF bomber command took out a very large number of Canadians in '44.

Of course the BBC were celebrating. Apparently some of Mr Z's family were too because paradise has a new martyr today. These fuckwits will, quite clearly, never learn - even when they're on the sharp end of a brace of 500lb LGBs.

As a side issue I always find it a little odd that LGB can stand for "Laser Guided Bomb" or "Lesbian Gay Bisexual" (as in university societys of...) I'm not trying to make an issue of this because people's sexual antics are their own business and the other kinda LGB is the USAF's business and neither are any of my business. I just think it odd enough to be remarked upon and potentially fatal if confused.

From Midwesterner (a regular member of the commentariat):

As far as I know, this http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2006/05/big_brother_is.html is Verity's last commented Samizdata thread. It appears she took Johnathan at face value and went away.

I don't know which particular buttons Jonathan pushed to make our redoutable Mex-Brit leave, but I'm kinda missing her, even though she could be very nasty at times. I'm trying to decide if Samizdata is better for the lack of continual EG/Verity slanging matches. Rationally, I have to conclude that it is, though sometimes they did entertain...

Zarqawi - dead
Rooney - fit

The news does not get any better than that.

Nick - hah! LGB is way obsolete, according to our queer friends. I was listening to talkback radio recently, and some rather agitated gay-rights activist was whingeing about the acronym LGBT (T=transgender); apparently it's not inclusive enough. LGBTQQ (one Q = Queer, the other Questioning) is apparently less likely to cause offence and ostracise sensitive individuals leading alternative lifestyles. I see on Wikipedia that you can run the acronym out to LGBTTTIQQA (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Transsexual Twospirited-people - I shit you not - Intersex Queer Questioning Asexual).

Asexual? Like a protozoan? Interesting...

Last words of Zarqawi:

"Bwahahahahahaha! Those stupid infidel American dogs will never find me he......."

Verity left a comment on Stephen Pollard's blog yesterday(Link) so she is still around.

Regrettably not around here though.

Damn, I just love the idea that Zarqawi was killed by having a 500 kg Lesbian Gay Bisexual dropped on him! Sweet.

The mental images that conjures up will have me chuckling for days.

My Iraqi mate and I did a small dance of celebration this morning.
Today is a good day we decided.

Zarqawi got his virgins. Too bad they all look like Janet Reno and Madline Albright.

Oh and I too miss Verity.
If you still read this blog Verity, please come back, I for one think this is a poorer place without you.

I for one do not miss Verity at all and I wish people who stop trying to summon her up again. She was tediously shrill, every bit as repetitive as the tiresome Euan Gray and her responses just as wearily predictable.

On the other hand a vile murderer getting his just deserts is certainly something to toast. "Reasons to be cheerful" :-)

Speaking as a very occasional commenter (but regular reader) I too miss the Verity/EG slugfests. Very entertaining. And watching Verity go to town on some of the hapless visitors was occasionally awe-inspiring.

I was wondering what had happened to those two....

Ah! but it's the little bit of grit
That makes pearls.
Bye bye Mr Z, heh heh , heh!
Next.

Am I the only one to have arrived at the inescapable conclusion that "Verity" might possibly have been the nom de digital-plume of Abu Musab Zarqawi (moab be upon him)? Both entirely terrifying of course, yet at the same time, strangely fascinating personalities.

Mark says the last words of Zarqawi were: "Bwahahahahahaha! Those stupid infidel American dogs will never find me he......."

I think it was: "Oh poo... I seem to bitten off more than I can chew."

Either way the sane world and the Islamofascists are united for once. We are all happy he's gone and they are happy he is a martyr. Either way its win/win.

I'd prefer to think of his last words as something along the lines of

"If I'm not right, may Allah strike me dead"

Rich

"Damn, I just love the idea that Zarqawi was killed by having a 500 kg Lesbian Gay Bisexual dropped on him! Sweet. "
Do you suppose she seethed all the way down?
"Ha, typical man, standing where I want to land"

Zarqawi got his virgins. Too bad they all look like Janet Reno and Madline Albright.

... which goes a long ways towards explaining WHY they're still virgins, n'est-ce pas?

There is a beautiful poetic symmetry in Richard Thomas's preference.

I'd prefer to think of his last words as something along the lines of

"If I'm not right, may Allah strike me dead"

And no, while Verity made a predictable navigational beacon, I do not think she helped the course, depth or results of discussion here. Nor Euan. They both consistently deflected threads from serious issues into histrionics or irrelevance. I don't miss them at all.

God bless America and the crusade.

Please give what we're doing a more appropriate/worthwhile label than "crusade". Crusades were ridiculous and counter-productive.

I've just seen on ITV news the report on Mr Z's not untimely demise. Now I'm an English Anglospheric-leaning agnostic so far be it for me to gloat at the death of anyone, and very far be it for me to reach for the terms that crusaders, holy warriors and jihadis reach for but...

I was rather struck by watcher in the darks' comment...

Either way the sane world and the Islamofascists are united for once. We are all happy he's gone and they are happy he is a martyr. Either way its win/win.

If it is the case that the West can all be killers and the Islamicists all get to be martyrs then I'm happy. Those bastards can taste as many virgins in paradise as they want but they'll still be dead. They claim that their strength is that they are in love with death and our weakness is that we are in love with life. Sorry pals, you've got it completely the wrong way round.

Being in love with life is what gives us power.

As I said, I'm an agnostic, but if there is a God (whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish or whatever else) I'll bet you dollars to donuts that he blessed the two thumbs that launched the pair of 500lb Paveways that provided Mr Z with his expediated path into the Next World and Amen to that.

Bless Lockheed Martin, the USAF and everyone involved,

BTW I don't give a monkey's about Rooney's fitness (not since Crouch and Owen proved themselves against the Reggae Boyz) but good weather and the death of that total Bertie Blunt has put me in a capital mood. For once I'm thinking we could actually win this bugger, and if we do the result will be stunningly good.

I meant win the Iraq war, not the World Cup, although you never know about that either...

I can just imagine the look on faces in the Independent's newsroom when the word came in that their hero was corpse. Yes, this is a good day.

Burn in hell, you son of a bitch.

"Oh poo... I seem to bitten off more than I can chew."

I think it was more likely:

[to his camel]

"Would you like me to make the earth move for you one more time?"

Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Defense Secretary:
''I think arguably over the last several years, no single person on this planet has had the blood of more innocent men, women and children on his hands than Zarqawi.''
Now that must have been hard to say with a straight face.

Ah, you're trying to draw equivalence between Zark and Rumsfeld? Zark deliberately targeted and killed thousands with homicide bombers. While we deliberately put ourselves in harms way to avoid killing innocents.

Jeez, I was hoping Zarkman would get 72 virgins cloned from Helen Thomas. Sure as hell wouldn't be worth martyring oneself for something like that.

Terrorist scum #1 - By Allah's beard, I told you, "tap, rack, bang!" Do you wish a repeat of the "machine gun incident" in our next video???? My hand still bears the barrel mark!

Zarqawi - Shut up! By the Prophets leg, what is that thunder and howling I hear? Oh never mind. Where was I? Oh, tap, rack, bang, tap, rack.....******

-----------

2 500lb bombs - Bingley and Berg. Payback's a steel-clad bitch.

I hope you roasted alive before death took you, you evil fucker....

The comment here regarding the BBC were interesting the coverage I read was standard BBC stuff until it got to Frank Gardiner their security correspondent who was shot and left by the islamofascistsin Saudi...

Maybe it wasn't Mr. Z

With all due respect Morken - what a crock.

Lew Rockqwell.com has gone from being a respected site to being the libertarian version of the National Enquirer. You might as well be quoting the Scientologists as a source of opinion.

Lew Rockqwell.com has gone from being a respected site to being the libertarian version of the National Enquirer.

Funny how things turn up - I was just going on about this subject last night on another thread. Heh.

Anyway, for tiddly updates, Zarkman is definitely hosed, the Iraqis are celebrating in the streets (rather delightfully), and AP reports unsubstantiated allegations of abuse of Zarkman (as AP is wont to do).

In other words, reactions are fairly as predicted.