ABC News has learned that al Qaeda’s master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert was one of the men killed in last week’s U.S. missile attack in eastern Pakistan.
Midhat Mursi, 52, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, was identified by Pakistani authorities as one of three known al Qaeda leaders present at an apparent terror summit conference in the village of Damadola.
The United States had posted a $5 million reward for Mursi’s capture. He is described by U.S. authorities as the man who ran al Qaeda’s infamous Derunta training camp in Afghanistan, where he used dogs and other animals as subjects of experiments with poison and chemicals.
“This is extraordinarily important,” said former FBI agent Jack Cloonan, an ABC News consultant, who was the senior agent on the FBI’s al Qaeda squad. “He’s the man who trained the shoe bomber, Richard Reid and Zacharias Mousssaoui, as well as hundreds of others.”
Pakistani authorities tell ABC News they have confirmation that Mursi was among those on the guest list for the late-night meeting. The authorities say al Qaeda’s No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was also expected to attend but apparently changed his mind.
Damnit! Probably had that “Free Mumia” thing he had to attend. And frankly, the gift baskets they hand out—stuffed with gangsta bling and speedballs—are certainly more worth the trouble of throwing on that freshly dry-cleaned tux than a basket full of dates and some sesame candies and lamb shank…
Next time, though. I’m thinking at the “Free the Galloway One” gala. Then—KA-BLUEY!
(h/t Link Mecca; see also, previous)
but, but, but, bbbbb….they were all women and children! CNN said so! This is all just ChimpyMcHitlerHalliburton propaganda!
TW – Big, yes this is BIG!
I don’t want to minimize the loss of life (collateral damage), but I’m glad that it was publicized so effectively. Perhaps now, residents in areas frequented by AQ will think twice about hosting such people, And perhaps they’ll even consider ratting them out to get rid of them.
Not to be pedantic….well, no, I am being pedantic, but it’s spelled ”KA-BLOOIE”, not ”KA-BLUEY”. The number of exclamation points increase with the level of excitement. I suggest that killing this particular scumbag is worth at least 6 (”!!!!!!”
.
Seriously…..
The “collateral damage” (an accurate term for an ugly concept) is indeed unfortunate…..but I don’t think there was much choice here. AQ’s subject matter expert on bombs and chemical weapons? No question about it, his death is a major blow to Al Qaeda. Too bad that the locals haven’t learned just who is the REAL danger hanging around. And I don’t mean Predator drones.
I question how much collateral damage there is here. The other dinner guests were accomplices. The hosts were accomplices. I suppose the women and any completely unaware staff would be innocent. Were any of those killed?
Meanwhile, I’m off to the PETA party where we’re celebrating the demise of that savage dog terrorist.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
If there is a more fitting moniker than “Hellfire” than the instrument that sent taht waste of organic material spiraling off this mortal coil, I don’t know it.
Ok, it might involve say, “rusty barbed wire catheter at slug-crawl speed” but that doesn’t even rhyme, carry the same imagery, or make a good acronym.
So Hellfire–hail yeah!
And saved 5 mil in reward money too! (minus the cost of the hellfires of course)
We got that damn dog killer.
Sweet.
I remember an old editorial cartoon that had a sad snoopy in place of the real dog in the deadly gas film.
Some people just need to be killed. Glad we got this one.
This&That
We killed a muslim simply because we disagree with him? WE ARE BARBARIANS!!!! What about HIS rights? Did we even try just asking him to kindly surrender and stand trial? I mean, when are we going to understand that, whether it’s by renting Farenheit 911 or blowing up a building, dissent is patriotic? I’m sad to see another brave Islamic dissident murdered, and I’m ashamed of being a citizen in I-Spy-Chimpy McHaliburtEnronAbramoff’s Amerikka.
It’s gone from killing “Al-Qaeda’s #2” to killing some obscure bomb maker no one’s ever heard of (let me guess…he was Al-Qaeda’s #3, right?). Tommorrow, we’ll find it was actually bin Laden’s chef who made these special kabobs just the way Osmama likes ‘em.
At what point does the collateral damage outweigh the target?
You dropped a bomb on meeee, baby
I dropped a bomb on yoouuu
Well this certainly brightens my day.
At what point does the collateral damage outweigh the target?
Not until it keeps sniveling terrorist sympathizers like you from mourning the loss of fucking jihadi.
(s)
Personally, I’d say there’s a turning point in there when these guys can’t get a dinner companion.
“Oh. Dinner? Yeah, look, Z, I’d love to, but the kids have the flu and I need to wash my camel.”
FANTASTIC news! I shall skip around my house in celebration.
I am not sure collateral damage is such a bad thing. If people learn hanging out with these thugs might get them blown up, perhaps they will think twice about doing so.
Maybe they will even turn in the “collateral damage magnets.”
Chairman eDog:
Put him on trial for what? In his culture, blowing up Westerners is perfectly ok and who are we to question his culture?
Yo, In Vino Veritas: that eDog dude thinks not killing Westerners is better than killing Westerners. Give him a good talking to, man. Let him know it’s all the same.
This just good ol fashioned “PLANTATION STYLE” home cooking if you ask me. I say keep up the heat….
– Did the transmitters…. personally gratifying moment…. One for the 9/11’ers
– And its more like a “Quedah-Whump-pah-whump” not Kablooie…..
TW: No no….try the Humus…its on the house….
Earth to InVV. If you think , no let me re-phrase that, if whatever program was piped into your head at the local university or MSM or …, claims that just because they are women and children makes them innocent…..see if you can get your mind back. As hard as reality can truely be to understand, it’s worth the extra effort.
Of course if there really were “innocents” it’s very sad and I’d be the first to admit it, but it’s just not that likely, especially given the non-stop rhetoric from a very long list of lyin’ bastages. Did you happen to see the staged photo of the successful aftermath? A terse old man and a sad faced young boy with an unexploded WW1/WW2 era artillery shell standing between them. FYI, drones have never been equipped with antiques of any kind, which is why they are considered state of the art . How can we even know if the picture was taken from the actual site?
Though my newsflash to you won’t be found on MSM, conscious (forgive the use of the word) misrepresentation of any and all facts is a way of life for all of our enemies. It doesn’t matter how long they’ve been in the Senate …or anywhere else!
…to killing some obscure bomb maker no one’s ever heard of…
As opposed to killing the really famous Al Quaeda bomb maker who’s out clubbin’ every night with Paris Hilton.
I’ll go you one further, the children of these terrorists know nothing other than terror, and thus they could very well be terrorists in training. How collateral is that?
Harsh reality.
Hey In Vino Veritas. I would have thought you would be happy that a documented puppy torturer was taken out. After all, according to you guys on the left, the life of a puppy is worth more than than that of a human being right?. Oh but I forgot, he supported your side, so therefore he couldn’t have committed any cruelty to animals and even if he did it was for a good cause. Oh and just because YOU have never heard of him doesn’t mean he was “just some bomb maker.”
<i>At what point does the collateral damage outweigh the target?
Well, little Lord Flaunteroy, remind me to write my congress-person to start funding those tickle-bombs.
I have figured out the liberal battle-plan though. Some day, our Pink Manhattan Project will unveil the ultimate weapon. Then we can just webcast the ‘collateral damage,’ it would be a propaganda coup, unless Bin Laden is hung like a Shetland pony.
At what point does the collateral damage outweigh the target?
Posted by In Vino Veritas | permalink
I suppose there is some point, but we’re not even close. In wars people die. Enough of their people die, the war ends. As George Patton so eloguently said: “You don’t win by dying for your country, you win by making the other poor bastard die for his.”
Watch the Pakistani “authorities” change their tune in a few weeks.
They have this guy’s DNA? Fingerprints? Anything?
Probably not.
Just Pakistani smoke blowing.
The real JeffS—I think it IS spelled “KER-BLUEY!” if you’re blowing up kangaroos. Have to ask Tim Blair.
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
Oi!! Oi!! Oi!!
(!!11!!1!)
for Margot’s Lads
SB: sure
yup
Now when we zorch Hekmatyar Gulbuddin or Mullah Omar, the drinks are on me!
tw: expect. you may expect me to buy you at least one good gin martini on that day…
“There’s No Good News Tonight in Chimpy McHallibushitler’s Fake War for Oil world! Ever!”
-Carl W. Goss
Word: somewhat. Somewhat of a guess on how Carl would view anything.
To cut down on collateral damage, the CIA is trying out some new special operatives and weapons for possible future deployment.
Not safe for anywhere.
Thank goodness we got to him before Ramsey Clark did.
Here’s the sting to bag Ayman: invite them all to a special screening of George Galloway on Big Brother, crawling around like a kitty licking milk out of Ruta Lenska’s hand. Then, KA-BLUEY (or KA-BLOOIE, as in olde English)!!!!!!
wishbone  We did NOT get him with a Hellfire. Didn’t you see the dud shell those Pakistanis were posing with?
We’ve obviously developed a stealth drone big enough to carry a 155mm howitzer…
oh, hell, forget the stealth drone. Can you imagine the size of the silencer on that sumbitch?
An excerpt from the new childern’s primer, A Crusader’s First Reader.
Have to bow to your expertise on that subject.
tw: thats-> what Carl is best at
Now that it turns out that we did get Zarqawi after all, will the MSM stop whining about Patkistani protests? This is a big step forward in the War On Terror. This could really be a turning point for operations in Iraq. I’m hopeful, anyway.
I don’t mind killing him…but I certainly hope we didn’t violate his rights by eavesdropping on him. That would be wrong.
but I certainly hope we didn’t violate his rights by eavesdropping on him. That would be wrong.
LOL. The irony is if Snitchens and Al Whore had their way, Zarqawi would still be making bombs and blowing up civilians—it’s undoubtedly surveillance that helped us find them. The very kind of surveillance those jack asses want to make illegal. I can’t think of two better examples of pre-911 thinking.
– Aside from eradicating one ot the better known cockroaches, possibly even three heads of the snake, the really encouraging thing is this means we must be starting to get a line on these dick-wads on a much more regular basis. That implies on the ground help from the locals to some degree. I mean all these guys have to be somewhere. They can’t all stay in spidey holes forever. If we can nail tall, dark, and yomamma, and Z, we’ll be three years closer to getting this whole freeking camel rodeo under control
You have a very good point there, whoever you are. Perhaps we should’ve sent a peace contingent to the party. With the soothing reassurances of Mother Sheehan and the Rev’run Jackson, maybe the the al Qaeda types would’ve agreed to give up violence and work for progressive change and social justice as part of the world community. We all have a stake in fighting the jew…er..neo-con program for global exploitation and despoilment.
More good news – a rare moment of sanity from the EU.
We got Zarqawi? Sheesh, what did I miss?
Link, please?
Never mind, I found it.
We do have airborne 105mm howitzers, but no 155s, sadly. This is an odd-looking creature and likely came from someone’s collection.
It’s gone from killing “Al-Qaeda’s #2†to killing some obscure bomb maker no one’s ever heard of (let me guess…he was Al-Qaeda’s #3, right?).
Awww, did someone #1 on your parade, IVV???
He said “#2”. Heh heh.
TW: No hospitals in the Pakistani hinterslands. So sad.
InPlonk and Slartibartfast
I’m getting old and so are my eyes but I’m not so sure that the round is a dud. Looks fused to me and from someones very old , say WW1/WW2 , collection. Would’ve been nice to see it tip over on the ignorant SOB’s. OOOH look at the pretty white , HEY, that shit’s hot! WO ! Look the rocks are burning! AAAH SHIT! SO AM I!…..