Zarqawi killed... and we've got the pictures to prove it

F*ckin' awesome. I'm sorry, but support for the GWOT here at home needs a shot in the arm, and, short of capturing Osama bin Laden, this is it. BAGHDAD, June 8 --Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the mastermind behind hundreds of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq, was killed early Wednesday by an air strike -northwest of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday [...] U.S. warplanes dropped two 500-pound bombs on a house in which Zarqawi was meeting with other insurgent leaders. A U.S. military spokesman said coalition forces pinpointed Zarqawi's location after weeks of tracking the movements of his spiritual adviser, Sheik Abdul Rahman, who also was killed in the blast. Hell yeah... nothing says you're on your way for a face to face with the devil like two 500 pound bombs. After the bombing we raided 17 separate locations around Baghdad seizing what Major Gen. Bill Caldwell described as a "treasure trove" of information. The entire operation from pre-strike surveillance to post-strike raids appears to have been as near a perfect operation as possible. Excellent intelligence, excellent coordination between intel and the troops on the ground, and the quick follow up raids to get all the information possible before word of Zarqawi's death could get out and all the terrorists we'd been surveilling could disappear and/or destroy any important computers, cellphones, and documents. Good work guys. You deserve a little celebration after this one... UPDATE @ 10:15am: Blackfive has the video of the strike posted. VERY cool... UPDATE @ 11:06am: Captain's Quarters points out that some of the intelligence that went into the strike was from Jordan. Nor are the only people rejoicing at Zarqawi's elimination, and it seems that Zarqawi did more than just flub gun handling in his last videotape. Jordan also provided critical information about Zarqawi's movements by analyzing the outdoor shots in his reckless show of bravado and determined exactly where the video had been shot. The Jordanians sent that information to the US and Iraq, where it formed part of the critical information that led to the air strike. And on top of that Captain Ed's particularly confident that this will be a serious blow to the insurgency, as opposed to a totally symbolic death, like NPR claims. UPDATE @ 11:59am: What good is this if we can’t poke fun at the dead, may he rot in hell? GOP and the City has the pics… here’s a sampling… Heh. UPDATE @ 4:43pm: I would have put this up sooner (if Blogger hadn't taken a crap. Again.), but the Llamas have the latest conspiracy theory posted. It wasn't Zarqait who died at all. It was Pavarroti!