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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed by U.S. Airstrike; Three Bombings Kill and Wound Dozens in Baghdad

Aired June 08, 2006 - 11:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: White House Press Secretary Tony Snow there underscoring there is still a war, still a tough road ahead. But this briefing, Carol, started out rather interesting, talking about a rather prophetic moment yesterday with President Bush meeting with Republicans and Democrats. And it was a Republican representative who said, "You know what you need to do? You need to find Zarqawi."
Little did they know that six hours later they'd get confirmation, in fact, that the U.S. military did target al-Zarqawi and did, indeed, kill him.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Tony Snow describing the dramatic hours afterwards and through the night as President Bush was briefed definitively at 4:35 yesterday afternoon, with the secretary of state and the chief of staff and the National Security Agency head, getting a call from the prime minister in Iraq that they believed that they had gotten Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. And lots of interesting, colorful detail.

WHITFIELD: Right.

LIN: The reporters asking Tony Snow, "Well, what was the president's reaction when Congressman LaHood made that remark, made that little crack?"

WHITFIELD: Yes. Having a rather Martha Stewart moment.

LIN: Right.

WHITFIELD: That would be a good thing.

LIN: That would be a good thing, indeed.

WHITFIELD: All right.

LIN: All right.

Well, the president and Tony Snow, his spokesperson, really not willing to go as far as declaring this a major victory, but we did hear a short time ago from the House speaker, Dennis Hastert, congratulating troops on the capture and the death of al-Zarqawi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: But today our American troops looked evil in its face, and it's dead. This is a major victory for our troops and the Iraqi people, a victory for the war on terror and certainly American families.

Al-Zarqawi was certainly a murder and a known beheader (ph) of innocent civilians. And while important, we know that this victory does not yet signal the end of our duty. But we must continue to find these victories until the war is won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Well, in Iraq, it may be the biggest development since the capture of Saddam Hussein. A coalition airstrike 30 miles northeast of Baghdad levels a house and killed the most wanted insurgent in Iraq.

Now, the U.S. military released this video of the actual bombing, and also this photograph of a mission accomplished, the body of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi officials say fingerprints confirm it is him.

WHITFIELD: Al-Zarqawi's own group, Al Qaeda in Iraq, confirms his death and avows to continue the insurgent fight. That threat seemingly underlined today by three different bombings in Baghdad.

Dozens killed and wounded as word of al-Zarqawi's death traveled around the world. Bombings and even more gruesome discoveries are also commonplace in Baquba, the volatile area where al-Zarqawi was killed.

CNN's John Vause joins us now with a closer look.

And John, we also heard from the press secretary that it is going to take the cooperation of Iraqis in order to carry out continuous military operations just like this one.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Fredricka. But we've also heard all day long from many officials, from the Iraqi prime minister on down, that the death of Zarqawi will not mean an end to the violence. And we're seeing that play out right now.

Within the last few moments, we've received word of a car bombing in the northern part of Baghdad, a Shiite neighborhood, a Shiite stronghold, in fact. At least seven civilians there have been killed, 17 others wounded.

This comes just hours after a roadside bomb exploded in the southern part of Baghdad city, killing at least a dozen people at a marketplace, wounding at least 28 others, and another roadside bomb around the same time, around the same area, targeting Iraqi police, killing two civilians as well, and wounding eight police.

And while -- while these attacks continue, obviously this is -- this is the main challenge for the Iraqi security forces. And they will need the support of the Iraqi people to try and stem this insurgency. But obviously trust is one of those things which is in short supply when it comes to the Iraqi population here -- Fredricka. WHITFIELD: And you -- and you talk about that trust and a fear that has simply bubbled up, you know, over the past years because there's a great fear of this kind of foreign fighters insurgency. Do Iraqis as a whole see the foreign fighters and the sectarian violence as all one in the same, blaming the same culprit, so to speak?

VAUSE: Well, really, there's the two insurgencies under way here. There is the foreign insurgency, and then there's the homegrown one against the occupation or forces led by the United States.

So Zarqawi was despised by many Iraqis because he was a Jordanian, because he carried out such brutal attacks targeting civilians. And while everyone has said that the violence won't end, one of the hopes now from the United States military here is that with Zarqawi dead, because he had gone out of his way in particular to target Shiite civilians with some brutal attacks, there is a hope now that the number of civilians who are -- who are dying on a daily basis, that that number may come down.

You have to remember last month was the worst month for the death of Iraqi civilians since the occupation by the United States here began after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Almost 1,400 people were killed in violent attacks, either stabbing or shootings. And that number doesn't count the people who have been killed in explosions, because their bodies don't make it to the morgue.

So there have been spiraling violence. It's hoped now that with Zarqawi out of the picture that that will come under control. But we've already heard from Iraqi and U.S. officials today that there is another Zarqawi on the way. They know who he is. They've been considering his prospects, and he's now the next target -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: John Vause in Baghdad.

Thanks so much -- Carol.

LIN: Well, Fredricka, we've been getting images of this airstrike, as well as images of the body of al-Zarqawi itself. It was Iraqi forces that first spotted it.

Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon right now with new photos of Zarqawi after that attack -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Carol, in fact, some new photographs now being released by the U.S. military in Baghdad.

Let's go back a minute and look at that first photograph that came out several hours ago. It shows a clean -- relatively clean- shaven, tidy Zarqawi, that he had been cleaned up. U.S. military officials say that some of the photos were simply too gruesome for public viewing. So they say indeed they did clean up his face before they showed this photograph to the world earlier this morning.

But now a second photograph coming out, being released by U.S. military forces, showing Zarqawi with blood on his face. We certainly see a very limited view. We don't see the other side of his head. We do not see the rest of his body. So we simply do not know actually what shape the body was in when they finally made that positive identification that they've talked about through facial identification, scars and fingerprints.

This photo, of course, coming after we have seen the actual video from the F-16 airplane, of the bombs being dropped. We see, you know, the first bomb -- pardon me. I'm sorry. I was having a technical problem.

We saw the bombs being dropped. I guess we have the president now.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sorry about that, Barbara.

We're rolling tape now of the president's comments when he was meeting with the governors. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... about the fact that he's completed his cabinet. I also told him that I had talked to her commanders and congratulated them on bringing Zarqawi to justice.

I thanked our governors for being such strong commanders in chief. I hope they take a message back to their respective Guard units how much our country appreciates their service. And I hope they also take the message back that we appreciate the service of their families.

And we also talked about fiscal discipline, how the executive branch can have certain tools to work with the legislative branch to make sure that there -- there's responsible spending. Every one of these governors have got a line item veto, and they've used it wisely. And they shared their experiences with me.

And the reason they did so is because we're urging Congress to give this president and future presidents the opportunity to be able to have what is very much similar to a line item veto. The American people expect their money to be spent wisely. And the president needs to have a tool to be able to work with the Congress so that that money is spent wisely.

I appreciate the support of both Republicans and Democrats on the Hill in supporting the bill that we've submitted. I urge the Congress to pass this type of legislation so that we can work together to get our deficit cut in half by 2009. But more importantly, assure the American people that we're being wise about how we use our money.

I thank you all very much. Thank you all for coming. I appreciate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, that was tape that we're just now able to bring with you. The president meeting with many of the states' governors earlier today.

LIN: You bet.

We're getting a lot of reaction both out of Washington, around the country, to the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Also later today we're going to be hearing from Nick Berg's father. Nick Berg was the telecommunications worker who was beheaded in Iraq, and it is reported that al-Zarqawi was the one who beheaded him personally.

So a lot of emotional reaction from around the country coming right up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: A martyr, a monster, two completely opposing views being used to describe Abu Musab al-Zarqawi this morning as news of his death spreads.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson gives us a look at al-Zarqawi's chilling resume.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Iraq was where Zarqawi made a name for himself. In less than a year, murdering his way to be one of the most wanted terror suspects in the world linked to Osama bin Laden.

JONATHAN STEVENSON, TERRORISM ANALYST: Zarqawi has emerged as a player, a global player in the al Qaeda network, having recently been formally in a way anointed as bin Laden's protege in Iraq.

ROBERTSON: In a letter said to be from Zarqawi to bin Laden, intercepted by U.S. forces in Iraq, Zarqawi promised his support if bin Laden approved his plans for starting a civil war in Iraq.

He claimed to be the man in the mask. Minutes later, in this rare video, beheading Nick Berg. He also claimed to be the mastermind behind even bloodier attacks like this one, killing dozens of Shia Muslims in their holy city, Karbala. As the death toll at the hands of his Sunni Muslim suicide bombers grew, his group changed their name from al-Tawhid wal Jihad to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the ancient name for Iraq.

But the chilling resume of this 38-year-old Jordanian began long before the war in Iraq. Wanted for the 2002 murder of U.S. diplomat Lawrence Foley in Jordan, linked to chemical weapons plots in Europe.

M. J. GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: Al-Zarqawi has been connected to virtually all the dangerous cells which have been operating in Europe, the (INAUDIBLE) cell in the U.K., the cell in Germany, also in Italy.

ROBERTSON: Even before the war in Iraq, however, Zarqawi had been singled out by the Bush administration as a link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime. COLIN POWELL, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: We know of Zarqawi's activities in Baghdad.

ROBERTSON: The U.S. put a reward on Zarqawi's head and was on his trail, and had increased the reward to $25 million. Although they once thought they came close to catching him, a massive offensive and a suspected stronghold of Falluja failed to net him.

In that letter to bin Laden, Zarqawi recognized he was a wanted man. "The future has become frightening," he wrote. "Eyes are everywhere." Eyes that finally found Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was the face of the insurgency in Iraq. He had become almost as infamous as Osama bin Laden himself. So what does al-Zarqawi's death mean for the war on terror overall?

Joining us with some insight on that is CNN terrorism analyst, Peter Bergen, on the phone with us from Zurich.

Well, we've heard so many different points of view about what this could mean for Iraq. But in your point of view, what does this mean in terms of an interruption as a whole to al Qaeda as a network?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, let me just, first of all -- I think in terms of Iraq, you know, there are two insurgencies going on. One is a very large one of mostly Iraqis, and one is a small one of foreign fighters like Zarqawi who, of course, is Jordanian.

But the foreign fighters are having a really disproportionate impact on what is actually happening strategically in Iraq, because 90 percent of the suicide operations are being conducted by foreigners. Sixty percent of them are being conducted by Saudis, for instance.

And so it is the suicide operations that got the civil war going between the Sunnis and the Shia. They got the United Nations to withdraw and has made reconstruction almost impossible. So I think it's only in the short and medium term the fact that Zarqawi is dead is going to put a crimp on those operations.

WHITFIELD: So you see that directly related, the foreign fighters and the sectarian violence, and that perhaps with an interruption or at least with the killing of the leader of the foreign fighters group that perhaps that might affect, maybe even precipitate a slowdown of the sectarian violence?

BERGEN: Well, not necessarily just the kind of low-grade sectarian violence. But I'm talking about the spectacular acts of suicide terrorism. For instance, the attacks on the Samarra shrine that really got the civil war under way.

These were foreign fighters -- I think the general view is this was Zarqawi's work. But in terms of the larger al Qaeda network, you know, I think Zarqawi didn't really have an ideology except attacking the Shias. Unlike people like bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's number two, he didn't really have a coherent world view.

This, after al, is a guy who was a street thug in Jordan, spent a lot of time in Jordanian jails for basically ordinary street crimes. Not somebody who was tremendously intellectually sophisticated.

Now, bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have laid out quite a large kind of ideological view of the world that will survive them whether they're captured or killed tomorrow or 10 years from now. I don't think that Zarqawi is going to have some sort of ideological legacy.

So, while in the short and medium term, this is perhaps good for the insurgency in Iraq in the sense that it will be damaging. I think in the longer term, in terms of the al Qaeda organization and ideological movement, I think Zarqawi's death won't have a huge impact, not compared to what we would see with the death or capture of bin Laden or Zawahiri.

WHITFIELD: And so speaking of bin Laden, given the reported and recent power struggle between Zarqawi and bin Laden, is it your anticipation -- do you think that we would hear from bin Laden soon?

BERGEN: Yes, Fredricka, I think that's an excellent question. I think we're going to hear from Zawahiri and bin Laden relatively soon. And I think they're going to release audiotapes, certainly audiotapes, perhaps even videotapes in the case of Zawahiri, basically saying how happy they are that Zarqawi finally got his wish to be martyred by the infidel and how happy they are.

Privately, I think that they may be saying to themselves, well, Zarqawi was good for us. He did rename his group to "Al Qaeda in Iraq" in 2004. On the other hand, while he took some of our advice, stopped beheading civilians, for instance, he did not take our advice on the matter of attacking the Shias.

Bin Laden and Zawahiri don't want to be part of some major Sunni- Shia civil war. They -- in letters to Zarqawi, they tried to explain that. Zarqawi basically ignored that and continued with his campaign against the Shias.

So I think for bin Laden and Zawahiri privately they may be hoping that whoever takes over al Qaeda in Iraq may -- may take their cues a little bit more from al Qaeda central than Zarqawi had done.

WHITFIELD: So this all comes to an end for al-Zarqawi in Baquba. Why was this a town that he had settled on as being a real safe haven?

BERGEN: My understanding of Baquba is it's -- you know, one, it's one of the hotbeds of the insurgency. And I'll give you an example.

You may remember the female suicide bomber from Belgium, November 9, 2005. She was actually recruited by Zarqawi. She and her husband, they came to Iraq, they conducted suicide operations against American soldiers in that area. So, I mean, this has long been a hotbed of the Iraqi insurgency.

WHITFIELD: Peter Bergen, thank you so much, terrorism analyst joining us from Zurich -- Carol.

LIN: Lots of questions also about whether there's going to be any fallout from the killing of al-Zarqawi, whether there could be an act of revenge right here in the United States.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick working that angle from New York. She joins us from there.

Deborah, what are you hearing from folks there?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, that is one of the many questions right now being discussed in law enforcement agencies on all levels, local, state and federal. Many sources are telling me that everyone is evaluating whether Zarqawi's death will trigger some sort of an action inside the United States. But as of now, sources say there's no new intelligence, no different intelligence that has come to light indicating that his death will activate so-called sleeper cells or serve to trigger an attack.

Now, one expert tells CNN that the general feeling has been that al-Zarqawi has never had retaliatory capabilities inside the U.S. However, there's always the concern that second or third-generation immigrants who may have trained in al Qaeda camps, who do have access to the Internet and who might be prone to extremism, could do something on their own. But the bigger concern right now among many officials is strikes against U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq.

Now, last year, there was information that bin Laden was encouraging al-Zarqawi to hit the U.S., but one security expert says Zarqawi's death may actually take that off the table. But right now, Carol, we can tell you there is no increased security level in New York or Washington, D.C., or Los Angeles. Right now the threat level remains the same today as it was yesterday, as it was the day before that. Right now everyone just evaluating and assessing what this death might mean -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Deborah Feyerick, thank you very much -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Well, Carol, we've heard from President Bush, members of Congress, and even Iraqi leaders. Well, now it's the turn of secretary-general of the U.N., Kofi Annan, his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: This is an individual who has been responsible for many heinous crimes, caused lots of problems in Iraq for the government and the people of Iraq. People of Iraq who are free to step out, people of Iraq who are only demanding peace, stability and to have their streets back.

I think they will all be relieved that he is gone. And, of course, we cannot pretend that that will mean the end of the violence. But it is a relief that such a heinous and dangerous man who has caused so much harm to the Iraqis is no longer around to continue his work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Praise for the Iraqi forces, including from a congressman who made headlines last November when he called for U.S. troops to withdraw from that country. I'm going to be speaking with Congressman John Murtha coming up.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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