Thursday, June 08, 2006

PRESS PATTERNS

A round-up of MSM coverage, ranked from best to worst. First the good:

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq who led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and kidnappings, has been killed in an air strike, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday, adding that his identity was confirmed by fingerprints and a look at his face. It was a major victory in the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the broader war on terror.

CNN:

Terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, was killed in a coalition airstrike near Baquba, jubilant U.S. and Iraqi authorities announced Thursday.

Washington Post:

Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, whose leadership of the insurgent group al- Qaeda in Iraq made him the most wanted man in the country, was killed Wednesday evening by an air strike near Baqubah, north of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday.
The Jordanian-born Zarqawi claimed responsibility for hundreds of kidnappings, bombings and beheadings. His stated aim, in addition to ousting U.S. and other forces from Iraq, was to foment bloody sectarian strife between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

New York Times:

Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in an American airstrike on an isolated safe house north of Baghdad at 6.15 p.m. local time on Wednesday, top U.S. and Iraqi officials said on Thursday. [...]
The announcement of Zarqawi's death, shortly before noon on Thursday in Baghdad, appeared to mark a major watershed in the war. With a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, the Jordan-born Zarqawi has been the most wanted man in Iraq for his leadership of Islamic terrorist groups that have carried out many of the most brutal attacks of the war, including scores of suicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.

Honorable mentions go to ABC News for breaking the story and Fox News for this huge freaking picture of Zarqawi with just the word "DEAD":

Next, the bad — or as I like to call it, the "Why can't we just say that he did it?" category:

Los Angeles Times:

Abu Musab Zarqawi, leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed by a U.S. airstrike early this morning in the town of Hibhib near Baqubah, said Hussein Maliki, a spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

The spokesman said Zarqawi, blamed for leading a relentless campaign of suicide bombings and beheadings, was severely injured in the attack and later died. Iraqi forces were the first to discover his body, Hussein Maliki said, and were able to identify him using pictures and fingerprints.

Reuters:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been killed in a joint U.S. and Iraqi military raid north of Baghdad.
Jordanian-born Zarqawi is blamed by the United States for the beheading of foreign captives and suicide bombings that have maimed and killed hundreds in Iraq. He had become a figurehead for Islamist militants opposing Washington and Maliki's government.

Finally, the ugly:

BBC:

Militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has announced.
"Today we have eliminated Zarqawi," Mr Maliki said, sparking sustained applause. The US said he was killed in an air raid near Baquba.
The Jordanian-born leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq was considered the figurehead of the Sunni insurgency.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been blamed for scores of bombings that have killed hundreds of Shias and US forces.
His death does not mean either the Islamist al-Qaeda elements or nationalist fighters will give up, says the BBC News website's world affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds.
Indeed his removal might well bring about an explosion of revenge by his followers, he adds.

Were you thinking this was good news, my friends? Well the BBC's Paul Reynolds is here to tell you to put away that champagne right now!

06/08 06:15 AM Share