Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Three years to catch up

Today the US military in Iraq announced they had positively identified the body of Stumpy Pepys Abu Maysara who was killed in an operation near Samarra two weeks ago. Mentioned in his case history is this --

Maysara fought against the Government of Iraq in Fallujah in 2004 and was reportedly one of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s senior advisors. On Nov. 29, 2004, Maysara was captured by Coalition forces in Fallujah, using the name Muhammad Wasim Abdullah Halabi, also known as Abu Assim. He had in his possession a forged Ministry of the Interior identification card with the name Ahmad Ibrahim Karim, also known as Abu Ibrahim.

That would be the second battle of Fallujah. For those trying to keep track, the first battle in April 2004 was when the US invaded the city after four Blackwater guards were ambushed and killed and their bodies filmed on a bridge outside the city. The Iraqi government balked at the destruction and the invasion was aborted, but the US went in again in November and flattened the place.

But the tentacles of the bad guys into the Iraqi government were sufficiently strong that Abu Maysara was released despite being captured. The news release does not provide an estimate death toll for his activities in the three extra years that he got.

UPDATE 26 DECEMBER: Another Fallujah alum, Abu Abdullah, was killed around the same time.