al-Tunisi Is the New al-Masri Was the New al-Zarqawi Was the New al-Douri

The U.S. military announced today that it has killed a “senior leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.” Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson “identified the man as Abu Usama al-Tunisi, a Tunisian described as a close associate and likely successor to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s Egyptian leader.”

[...]

But terrorism analyst Evan Kohlman issued a “global terror alert” last year stating that al-Tunisi had died in July 2006.

  Think Progress

We've been here before. Several times. As far as my post research goes, the first time we used the capture announcement tactic on someone who either didn't exist or was already in custody or dead, it was a guy named al-Douri. It's apparently a formula that keeps on working.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Imaginary Friends

Zarqawi, Masri and Baghdadi.

In March, he was declared captured. In May, he was declared killed, and his purported corpse was displayed on state-run TV. But on Wednesday, Abu Omar Baghdadi, the supposed leader of an Al Qaeda-affiliated group in Iraq, was declared nonexistent by U.S. military officials, who said he was a fictional character created to give an Iraqi face to a foreign-run terrorist organization.

[...]

Islamic State of Iraq [was created] as a "virtual organization" that exists in cyberspace and is essentially a pseudonym for Al Qaeda in Iraq, another group that claims ties to Bin Laden. The front organization was aimed at making Iraqis believe that Al Qaeda in Iraq is a nationalistic group, even though it is led by an Egyptian and has few Iraqis among its leaders, Bergner said at a news conference.

  LA Times

Well, if the Iraqis didn't believe it, it fooled the Americans - at least the White House and the American press.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Zarqawi's Replacement

I haven't got the time this morning to hunt down the appropriate links (and I haven't made much progress attaching labels to my past posts in order to make that job easier), but maybe I can do it later.

At any rate, most of you will recall at least the flavor of my posts about Zarqawi, the number one bogie man (in place of bin Laden - let's think about why that would be), who was reported dead and subsequently alive, sometimes with one leg, until finally we had to lay him to rest. Of course, then he had to have a replacement.

And now, that replacement is being played in the exact same fashion. We are so damned gullible.

According to ABC News, reports that al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been killed are “unconfirmed and part of a misinformation campaign.”

  Think Progress post

First, al-Masri was reported wounded at an opportune time for the Bush administration to counter bad news at home. Then that report was claimed to be false. And now, when Bush is battling Congress for increased funds, he has been killed. Or maybe not.

An Egyptian news source says the guy has been in prison there for the past seven years.

Back in '06, when he was reported dead and then alive, Joe Cannon wrote:

I doubt that I've ever before used the acronym WTF, but this story delivers good reason to take up the habit. In his most recent broadcast to the world, Osama Bin Laden proclaimed that Zarqawi's successor in Iraq is one Abu Ayyub al-Masri. The United States concurred, and offered both a bounty and a history:

The military said al-Masri was born and brought up in Egypt. He then went to Afghanistan, where he trained in bomb-making before going to Iraq in 2002.

Get that? "The United States concurred..."

As I periodically say, "Are we sure bin Laden is an ex-CIA agent?" Or at least, a guy who made a deal.

Bin Laden's activities and purposes sure dovetail nicely with bin Bush's.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.