Gadahn alive, AQ says
posted at 8:00 am on March 3, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Send to a Friend |
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
Rumors have swirled since a missile attack in January that one of its unintended targets may have been the American traitor, Adam Gadahn. Usually a high-profile character, his colleagues had reportedly not seen him since the strike that killed Abu Laith al-Libi, the intended target of the strike. Today, though, the Pakistani newspaper The Nation reports that al-Qaeda explicitly says Gadahn lives:
Meanwhile, the Al-Qaeda Spokesman Ahmad Salman contradicted reports regarding killing of Ezzam Al-Americee in the recent missile attack at Khushhali Toorikhel near Mirali Town of North Waziristan Agency on January 29 last.
The Spokesman said that Ezzam Al Americee is alive.
The leading Al-Qaeda figure Abu Laith Al Laibi along with his aides Abu Sahal and Abu Obaid from Egypt were killed in missile attack at Khushhali Toorikhel, North Waziristan Agency.
AQ would normally offer praises to “martyrs” on their official websites, both as obituaries and as recruiting tools. Al-Libi received such a tribute immediately after his death, but they had not commented on Gadahn until now. His lower profile may indicate that he has been injured, or simply that he has had little to say since someone dropped a bomb on al-Libi’s head. AQ would have little reason to lie about this; Gadahn simply isn’t that important.
That doesn’t mean the US wouldn’t like to get their hands on Gadahn. Lord Haw Haw didn’t have much strategic value as a target during World War II, but that didn’t keep the British from stretching his neck at the end of it. That seems a better end for Gadahn anyway — having to face his former countrymen and returning to the US not to bring the ummah to North America, but to face justice for his treason.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Oooooooh, stop my feet from dancin’!
So anyone out there in the military need lessons on how to aim straight for the next time this clown is in the crosshairs?
pilamaye on March 3, 2008 at 8:04 AM
Reminded of the Black Knight from Monty Python
scottm on March 3, 2008 at 8:04 AM
All right I want video. Those scumbags better provide it too, and with him holding a recent newspaper.
boomer on March 3, 2008 at 8:08 AM
He’s not dead,Well I think some one should
contact the ACLU and figure out who’s fault
it is,why and how come Gadahn is still alive!
canopfor on March 3, 2008 at 8:11 AM
Somehow I think you’d have no problem getting volunteers for the firing squad.
trubble on March 3, 2008 at 8:12 AM
oops,I forgot to add I’m kidding!
canopfor on March 3, 2008 at 8:12 AM
I’m holding out for the day he’s brought back to the US:
1. shaved
2. take his costume away
3. tossed in the hooskow to be some MS-13 gang banger’s bitch
Alden Pyle on March 3, 2008 at 8:14 AM
If at first you don’t succeed…..
It would actually be much more satisfying to get SpecOps to see the Pride of California face to face, have him recognize his jeopardy, them blow his ass away. The missile strike is just so, um, impersonal.
pistolero on March 3, 2008 at 8:31 AM
Well I guess that means he goes back on the Presidential pardon list.
Limerick on March 3, 2008 at 8:31 AM
Waziristan cheetos and twinkies vendors breathe sigh of relief.
IreneFingIrene on March 3, 2008 at 8:39 AM
If Gadahn is alive, why does he have to rely on a spokesman to say he is alive?
Blake on March 3, 2008 at 8:41 AM
Good… Now we can capture him and use him as a tool for perfecting our torture techniques. I’m thinking we can send him to that supersecret detainee camp in eastern Romania… Let’s hope his future is filled with cattle prods, bamboo shoots, and pots of boiling oil.
Gartrip on March 3, 2008 at 8:42 AM
I’m relieved he’s alive, because there is de facto no crime in the United States today. If we can capture him alive and convict him for treason, we can start the crime of treason on its way back to an important and necessary part of our defense against our enemies. Ultimately, we may be able to charge the NYT with treason for revealing to the muslim terrorists how we track their money.
thuja on March 3, 2008 at 8:51 AM
Sorry for leaving out the key word!!
I’m relieved he’s alive, because there is de facto no crime of treason in the United States today. If we can capture him alive and convict him for treason, we can start the crime of treason on its way back to an important and necessary part of our defense against our enemies. Ultimately, we may be able to charge the NYT with treason for revealing to the muslim terrorists how we track their money.
thuja on March 3, 2008 at 8:51 AM
thuja on March 3, 2008 at 8:53 AM
Cockroaches are hard to kill
Viper1 on March 3, 2008 at 9:00 AM
Then he’d be deified by the libs as a victim of “American injustice”. “He was only expressing his first amendment rights!” See Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
srhoades on March 3, 2008 at 9:36 AM
Kill him now, by the way.
srhoades on March 3, 2008 at 9:37 AM
Good, that means the chance for a capture and
torture“inhanced terrogation” is still possible.THE CHOSEN ONE on March 3, 2008 at 9:39 AM
If he’s alive, he’s probably injured … horribly disfigured … that’s why they won’t show him, it’s bad for recruitment.
oops,I forgot to add I’m kidding! - CanOpFor
Those of us who know you know you were kidding! :-)
If at first you don’t succeed… - Pistol
“…try, try again.” - King Robert 1 (Robert the Bruce)
Tony737 on March 3, 2008 at 9:42 AM
Exactly! I assume that breathing with a ventilator is still living…If he is alive, why not appear and say, nyah, nyah ya missed me!!!
jimbo2008 on March 3, 2008 at 9:51 AM
Good. He should die from lethal injection, and not from a lucky bomb.
morganfrost on March 3, 2008 at 9:53 AM
Damnit! I thought we had lowered reduce global warming by reducing his carbon emissions.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on March 3, 2008 at 10:07 AM
If Gadahn’s reported Alive, who did we get in the missile strike on February 28th? Some of the sources reporting Gadahn’s death are also reporting rumors of Zawahiri’s death. You would think they would take time to deny those as well since bump-headed Ayman is much more important to their cause.
Tark on March 3, 2008 at 10:16 AM
Looks like Gadahn will join the Elvis ranks with stories about him being alive and working at a gas station in Memphis.
TooTall on March 3, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Better luck next time. Keep smilin’, fat boy…
mojo on March 3, 2008 at 10:27 AM
But the strike still got Michael Moore, didn’t it?
/mistaken identity
andycanuck on March 3, 2008 at 10:29 AM
He’s dead or his fat ugly mug would be all over the place.
dogsoldier on March 3, 2008 at 10:48 AM
If Allah Boy is still alive, he probably has a lot to think about these days. If you were him, would you be wanting to go to any big meeting of mullahs any more? Would you even want to bunch together with even a couple of fellow radicals? Closing your eyes to sleep could be problematic.
And for the few Al Qaeda left, it must be quite a terrible lesson to learn that no matter where they go, they live under an American sky full of winged eyes and sudden death. I imagine they live like cockroaches.
Tantor on March 3, 2008 at 10:54 AM
I swear I saw him working at a 7-11 down the street when I went for coffee!
Vntnrse on March 3, 2008 at 11:10 AM
Produce him.
Kini on March 3, 2008 at 11:17 AM
“Ezzam Al Americee”? This correspondent for The Nation is just making up his own spellings now.
The correct spelling is Azzam al Kha’in Badeen.
(That’s literally “Adam the fat traitor.” I’d like to see this in popular use.)
Jobius on March 3, 2008 at 12:12 PM
It reminds me of this:
If it turns out that he is alive, we may need the “The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch” to take “Adam the traitor” out.
RINO_Hunter on March 3, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Allah dammit. Oh, I mean god dammit.
Brass Pair on March 3, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Like Austin Powers?
I’ll bet that would go over well with his AQ friends.
Brass Pair on March 3, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Well, you better believe you can take that to the bank.
labrat on March 3, 2008 at 12:35 PM
I can not wait to see the traitor’s latest video diatribe against the United States! Please! Who cares if this cretin is alive or dead? If he is dead, then this saves the American taxpayer the time and expense of a trial and endless appeals. If not, this scum is living in a cave somewhere. And, judging by their ideology, a cave is the perfect living enviornment for them.
righty64 on March 3, 2008 at 3:29 PM
Keep an eye out to see if they recycle video like they do with Usama.
- The Cat
MirCat on March 3, 2008 at 4:38 PM
He’s dead, and Bin Laden is dead as well, in case you were buying those lip synced ‘videos’ they’ve been selling.
They’re lying about them both for the same reason; they are the faces of AQ. You can spin a normal terrorist’s death as martyrdom all day long, but these two were the faces of AQ. How do you spin the fact that those faces are now rotting?
Nessuno on March 3, 2008 at 4:45 PM