Some question whether Zarqawi was mistreated by US troops on the scene

The only thing that mistreated him were the two 500 pound bombs we dropped on his head. WaPo - Military pathologists said today that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader killed last week in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq, died of massive internal injuries caused by the bombs dropped on his hideout and was neither beaten nor shot. Col. Steve Jones, an army pathologist, said at a news conference in Baghdad that medics attempted to treat Zarqawi after they arrived, clearing his airways, but that injuries from the June 7 blast to his lungs were not "survivable." Zarqawi was "treated better in death than he treated others in life," added Major Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the military spokesman who presided at today's news conference. He "did lapse in and out of consciousness" but his breathing was shallow and labored all the while, until it stopped, and his pulse deteriorated rapidly. As I said in a post last week once we discovered that he survived the initial explosion before finally kicking the bucket, I hope he suffered. But that suffering came from a big explosion... maybe you've seen the video. It certainly wasn't from any troops that arrived at the scene. In fact in the conflicting witness statements, one statement reflects that Americans who made it to the scene first tried to give Zarqawi CPR, another says we tried to give him CPR with the butt of a rifle. I'm more inclined to believe the CPR without the rifle since our medical support teams in the field will always give the terrorists they see premium care, the same they give to our troops. UPDATE @ 4:06pm: Hot Air posts an excellent celebration of Zarqawi's death (via In Training). UPDATE @ 4:33pm: And al Qaeda in Iraq takes some time out of busy day of splodeydoping to pick a successor for Zarqawi. "The shura council of al Qaeda in Iraq unanimously agreed on Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir to be a successor to Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said a statement signed by al Qaeda and posted on a Web site frequently used by Islamist militants. "Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir is a good brother, has a history in jihad and is knowledgeable. We ask God that he ... continue what Sheikh Abu Musab began," it said. Hello Musab. Nice to meet you. Don't worry we've got a 500 pound bomb for you too... In fact I bet there's someone in the Air Force putting your name on one right now.