Grand Slam

After years of fruitless searching, close calls, and thousands of civilian casualties piling up, US and Iraqi forces finally tracked down al Zarqawi and killed him in an airstrike using two 500 pound bombs to level the compound where he and other terrorists were meeting.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides Wednesday evening in a remote area 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba, al-Maliki said.

Al-Qaida in Iraq confirmed al-Zarqawi's death and vowed to continue its "holy war," according to a statement posted on a Web site.

"We want to give you the joyous news of the martyrdom of the mujahed sheik Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said the statement, signed by "Abu Abdel-Rahman al-Iraqi," identified as the deputy "emir" or leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.

"The death of our leaders is life for us. It will only increase our persistence in continuing holy war so that the word of God will be supreme."

Loud applause broke out among the reporters and soldiers as al-Maliki, flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told a news conference that “al-Zarqawi was eliminated.”

But any hopes the Jordanian-born terror leader’s death would help stem the violence in Iraq were dimmed hours later when a car bomb exploded in a Baghdad market, killing 19 and wounding 65.

The announcement about al-Zarqawi’s death came six days after he issued an audiotape on the Internet, railing against Shiites in Iraq and saying militias were raping women and killing Sunnis and the community must fight back.

Al-Maliki said the airstrike was the result of intelligence reports provided to Iraqi security forces by residents in the area, and U.S. forces acted on the information. Casey said the hunt for al-Zarqawi began two weeks ago, and his body was identified by fingerprints and facial recognition.

They have even released photos of a dead Zarqawi. While Zarqawi's death is a big coup for the US and Iraqi forces, the raid eliminated a number of other terrorists, including spiritual adviser Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman, were killed at an isolated safe house outside Baquba at 6:15 p.m. (10:15 a.m. ET) on Wednesday. It took some time to confirm the identities of those killed in the airstrike conducted by Air Force F-16s.

President Bush made a short statement earlier this morning congratulating the troops and warning that there are still difficult times ahead. And the death of Zarqawi also paid political dividends for the Iraqis - as they approved ministers of defense, interior, and national security.

The new ministers were named as Gen. Abdul Qadr Mohammed Jassim, a former general under Saddam Hussein who was jailed in 1994 and sentenced to seven years imprisonment, as minister of defense; Jawad Khadim Polani, a former air force engineering specialist under Mr. Hussein, as minister of the interior, responsible for the police; and Shirwan al-Waili as minister of national security.

In line with an agreement reached several weeks ago between Sunni and Shiites groups, General Jassim, who has until recently been commander of land forces in the new American-trained Iraqi army, is a Sunni Arab, and Mr. Polani, the interior minister, is a Shiite. Both men stressed in remarks to the Parliament that they had no ties to any of the rival political parties in the government, a qualification that American officials had insisted on after the former government of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was virtually immobilized over allegations that the interior ministry was sheltering Shiite death squads targeting Sunnis.

UPDATE:
As expected, the news of Zarqawi's demise is being discussed all over the Internet. It's the number two search on Technorati, behind Ann Coulter. Good roundups are at Wizbang (here, here, and here), Hot Air, Ed Morrissey, and memeorandum (just keep scrolling).

UPDATE:
Add James Joyner at Outside the Beltway for a must-read roundup.

UPDATE:
Instapundit has a great roundup as well, and he cites Tim Worstall's reporting from Baghdad:

A Shia friend may have said it best, “Zarqawi would not listen to ballots, today there is no mistaking that he listened to the bombs.”

Yes, he listened to the bombs for a few moments, maybe realized what that sound was, right before his existence came to a most gratifying end for anyone who has the moral clarity to see what a victory it is to eliminate terrorists who seek to inflict as much violence on a society.

Oh, and the usual suspects in DU aren't pleased at all. Texas Rainmaker has the details.

UPDATE:
Still others blogging: Mark in Mexico, Sister Toldjah, The Anchoress, Stop the ACLU, and bRight and Early.

UPDATE:
Oil prices have fallen on the news of Zarqawi's death.

Oil fell nearly 2 percent to below $70 for the first time in two weeks on Thursday after the death of al Qaeda'a leader in Iraq, where crude exports have been curbed by frequent sabotage attacks and instability.

The plunge deepened losses from a day ago, when data showed rising crude and fuel inventories, easing concerns about summer supplies in the world's biggest consumer.

Al-Zarqawi is seen in an image from a video aired in April by the Al-Jazeera network.

U.S. crude oil fell $1.21 to $69.71 a barrel after losing $1.68 or 2 percent on Wednesday. London Brent crude fell $1.10 to $68.09 a barrel.

Considering that Zarqawi and insurgents often targeted oil facilities in Iraq, his death, and that of his top level minions, could effectively improve the security situation and improve oil production in Iraq.

UPDATE:
Still more reaction: Decision 08 and RedState goes through the left side of the blogverse and discovers a lack of enthusiasm for the announcment of Zarqawi's death.

Iraq the Model is quite happy at this turn of events.

The Real Ugly American, Right Wing Nut House, Blue Crab Boulevard, and All Things Beautiful also comment.

UPDATE:
The New York Times looks at how the White House learned of the report that Zarqawi may have been killed, and what steps the Administration took to publicize the news.

Mr. Rumsfeld today said that he had been notified Wednesday night in a call from Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the American commander in Iraq, that the attack had been made and that troops were moving in to search the site and confirm the identities. White House officials said today that they decided to hold off from the obvious temptation to try to break into prime time television right away with the rare good news. Rather, they decided it would be best to the secret for as long as possible and allow it to be announced in Baghdad, along with the news that the government there had finally filled three key posts, the ministers of defense, interior and national security.

Officials also decided to proceed carefully and not repeat mistakes of the past by referring to the capture as a turning point or an end to violence in Iraq, which is expected to, if anything, increase in coming days.

However, the Times fails to note that the Administration has repeatedly cautioned that the deaths or captures of important terror figures will not end the fight or that it might result in a spike in terror.

UPDATE:
Christopher Hitchens writes about why Zarqawi's death matters. Not that it matters to the anti-war left, considering that they move the goalposts to deny reality - that eliminating Zarqawi was a significant achievement. Reuters achieves that goal in writing up the Zarqawi roundup as though it's a defeat - Zarqawi found, BUT bin Laden still eludes US. What will happen when the US eventually tracks and eliminates bin Laden? Will they move the goalposts again? Will they complain about how long it took?

Charles at LGF notes that Palestinians are mourning their fellow traveller Zarqawi's demise.

I refuse to comment on the statements made by Michael Berg about Zarqawi's death via a US airstrike. His son Nicholas was murdered - his head hacked off by Zarqawi himself. Zarqawi took credit for his death, and the murders of others he and his group kidnapped and then beheaded. Nicholas went to Iraq of his own free violition, as an independent contractor working on rebuilding telecommunications infrastructure in Iraq. Zarqawi murdered him - beheading him on video, and crowing about it. Let's just say that someone who blames President Bush for the actions of a sociopath like Zarqawi who has the blood of thousands on his hands isn't thinking straight - and that's being charitable.

Others blogging: Blue Star Chronicles, Don Surber, All Things Conservative, Laurence Simon and the cats, The Donovan, Stop the ACLU,

Technorati: iraq, al qaeda, zarqawi, terrorism, terrorist.