Utlendr's article has now been edited to leave out his central point. He originally wrote that a Delta Force commando beat al Zarqawi to death inside the ambulance after the ambush. In the current edited version, it just says the Delta Force commando entered the ambulance after the ambush, and when he left, al Zarqawi was dead.
As originally published Friday, and still available via Google Cache, the article read:
He looked down upon the face of true evil. The conscious Zarqawi struggled to free himself of the stretcher, but his broken and wounded body was unable to react to what the mind was asking of it. With a gloved hand, the commando grabbed the side of Zarqawi’s head and slammed it against the inside of the ambulance, again and again until the number-one terrorist leader of Iraq was dead. With the traumatic brain injury he received from the initial bombing, it couldn’t have taken much effort. (my emphasis)
This decision was made on the ground; a strategic decision that carried with it the weight of all armed forces in Iraq. It was the right decision which surely saved hundreds if not thousands more lives and brought about the beginning of the end to Al-Qaeda’s reign in Iraq.
The current version of the article reads:
He looked down upon the face of true evil. The conscious Zarqawi struggled to free himself of the stretcher, but his broken and wounded body was unable to react to what the mind was asking of it. When the Commando stepped away from the ambulance Zarqawi had passed to the other side.
Zarqawi would find out sooner then [sic]he thought, that Allah would have no virgins or “garden of bliss” waiting for him in heaven.
Here's a screengrab of the original version and one of the current version, in case it changes again.
Also curiously, the current version adds a line missing from the original version:
When the Commando stepped away from the ambulance Zarqawi had passed to the other side.Zarqawi would find out sooner then [sic] he thought, that Allah would have no virgins or “garden of bliss” waiting for him in heaven.
Sounds like Utlendr caught some flak over his original version, and agreed to remove the part about beating al Zarqawi to death, but couldn't resist adding another jab to compensate.
The proprietor of the website, according to the Australian, had this response to the edit:
Brandon Webb, a former US Navy SEAL sniper who runs the site, responded by stating that Utlendr’s “story is true on both accounts, the source/author is real”.
The current version of the article adds this at the beginning: "The following is a true account as told by an operator from the 75th Ranger Regiment."
Also, according to the Australian, Utlendr's first version is similar to that of an Iraqi witness who claimed to have been one of the first at the scene.
The man, named only as Mohammed, said: “When the Americans arrived they took him out of the ambulance, they beat him on his stomach and wrapped his head with his dishdasha (robe), then they stomped on his stomach and his chest until he died and blood came out of his nose.”
His name is Ahmed Mohammed and here's what he said in 2006. This USA Today article also had Mohammed's version, and adds;
So much blood covered al-Zarqawi's body that U.S. forces cleaned him up before taking photographs.
"Despite the fact that this person actually had no regard for human life, we were not going to treat him in the same manner," Caldwell said.
This Guardian article from 2006 reports:
The air strike came after US forces acted on intelligence reports provided to Iraqi security forces by local residents.
That gives the impression do-gooder neighbors ratted out al-Zarqawi. But Utlendr writes:
In the end, a prisoner captured by the task force revealed the location of multiple safe houses in the Baqubah area.
There's a difference between a local resident and a prisoner, -- if it was a prisoner who gave up the information, he was probably tortured for it. In this case, it appears the person who revealed the information may have been both a local resident and a prisoner.
The Guardian says that 18 months earlier, al Zarqawi's driver and bodyguard were arrested en route to a meeting and al Zarqawi was in another truck, jumped out and made it to a safe house. ABC News reported in 2005 that the owner of that safe house had been arrested. If one or more arrested safe house owners gave up the information, the U.S. description of them as "local residents" may be technically accurate, but it's also disingenuous.
But the AP in 2006 had yet another version:
Tips from senior militants within the network led U.S. forces to follow al-Zarqawi's spiritual adviser to the safe house, 30 miles outside Baghdad, for a meeting with the terror leader. The adviser, Sheik Abdul Rahman, was among seven aides also killed.
....U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said U.S. and Iraqi intelligence found al-Zarqawi by following his spiritual adviser, who visited al-Zarqawi at the safe house, prompting the air strike.
If accurate, then the spiritual advisor didn't knowingly provide any information -- he was tracked electronically or followed.
This former Air Force criminal investigator says he was part of the interrogation team that was responsible for finding al Zarqawi, and denies torture was used. He says the information came from one of al Zarqawi's associates.
Lastly, the Australian notes that Peter Kassig was a former U.S. Army ranger, and that the ISIS black clad executioner quoted Zarqawi in the video showing his decapitated head.
