Seems that a certain someone’s supply of deputies is pretty much unlimited

February 25, 2004:

He was confirming a report in the Baghdad daily newspaper that a Zarqawi deputy it named as Nidal Arabiyat Agha Hamza was killed in an operation conducted last Thursday north of Baghdad.

January 8, 2005:

U.S. occupation forces announced the arrest of a key leader in al-Zarqawi?s network in Iraq.

January 29, 2005:

Authorities in Iraq have arrested three close associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, officials said Friday, claiming to be close to capturing the Al Qaeda-linked terror mastermind himself[.] […] Friday’s announcement brings to six the number of purported al-Zarqawi lieutenants arrested recently ? including a deputy[.]

June 4, 2005:

Six suspected terrorists, including a suspected deputy of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi linked to al-Quida, have been captured in Iraq, officials said Saturday.

June 27, 2005:

A senior member of Iraq?s Al Qaeda branch was killed recently in a US crackdown on insurgents in the Iraqi town of Qaim near the Syrian border, a Jordanian newspaper reported yesterday. […] Abu Alghadiya, a Syrian dentist married to a Jordanian woman, was described by Arab media as the ?number two? in Iraq?s Al Qaeda network and tipped to succeed its leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. [Emphasis added.]

September 27, 2005:

U.S. Special Forces killed Al Qaeda’s No. 2 terror mastermind in Iraq, Defense Department officials said.

 

Comments: 28

 
 
 

Being Zaqawi’s deputy is like being a drummer for Spinal Tap. Seriously, I don’t know why any sane jihadi would take that job…

 
 

They just give him the red shirt and send him out. It’s like GW hired Bob Marley’s accomplice.
What is this, an oil painting?

 
 

Israel had the same thing going forever when they kept killing the head of Islamic Jihad in Hebron.

That guy died like 19 times one year.

 
 

“Who are you?”

“The new Number Two.”

“Who is Number One?”

“You are Number Six.”

“I am not a number, I am a free man!”

 
 

Hey, you think Bush is gonna pay Zarqawi as a management consultant? If your gonna hire incompetant hacks, it’s a helluva lot more convenient to have them get killed. Then they don’t blab to scandal rags that you need an occassional stiff drink, because president’n is hard work, and then you got to hire the bugger back before anyone believable starts asking him questions.

 
 

A-Q must be huge, Halliburton has fewer Vice Presidents

(unintentionally deep)

 
 

No no, its:

“Who are you?”

“The new Number Two.”

“Who is Number One?”

“You are, Number Six.”

Get it?

 
 

“The real Dread Pirate Roberts had been retired fifteen years and was living like a king in Patagonia”

 
 

I wonder if that was his actual job title…”Number Two Terror Mastermind – Iraq Territory”. I’m changing my business cards to include the word “Mastermind” tomorrow. (But not “Terror”! Okay, Homeland Security Internet Monitors?!)

 
 

Wow. I bet the Al-Qaida training videos heavily emphasize the opportunity for immediate advancement within months of starting this “new and exciting career.”

 
 

Man, that’s a long list of deputies. I was expecting to see Barney Fife in there.

 
 

One of these days a mugshot of his top lieutenant is going to show up that’s a dead ringer for Muttley.

 
 

Yeah, not only Barney Fife, but Deputy Dog, Chief Wiggum’s Deputy Lou, Roscoe Peeco Train, and others come to mind.

 
 

[smacking forehead]
How could I forget the comma?

Oh, well, I also dangle my participles every which way. 😉

 
 

“Who do you work for, number 2? Who’s your boss?”

“You tell him! Hey, can I get a courtesy flush?”

Ok, not the exact quote, and yes, I hate Tom Arnold, too.

 
 

And off-topic, I apologize .. but I must say thanks and good-bye to Tennessee Tuxedo, my favorite penguin.

Well, Chumbley, we’re off to see Mr. Whoopee! And the 3D-BB!

 
 

Hey, guys. Hoffmania’s horning in on your Swank action. I just posted a link to here, so get to work on his latest columns! Don’t disappoint your new guests! They don’t have any idea who the guy is, and someone should really introduce them.

 
 

“Who are you?”

“The new Number Two.”

“Who is Number One?”

“You are Number Six.”

“I am not a number, I am a free man!”

Shut up Number One Hundred and Fifty Three! Now go make me a sandwhich.

 
 

Great minds think alike they say, although geater minds tend to think a little bit quicker. Billmon had a similar story in June…

 
 

I think that I have it figured out. I was at CostCo last weekend at they were selling a family-sized 24-pack of Deputies for $19.99. At that price I’d by two just in case!

 
 

I am amused by the mental image of a little handi-pak full of shrink-wrapped jihadis ready for defrosting.

 
 

Maybe EVERYBODY under the leader ranks as “Number 2.”

 
 

I have the feeling they’ve just started arresting random, hapless iraqi’s and assigning them importance in Al Quida depending on how much good news they need to manufacture this week. Something proportional to the number of dead, I suppose.
It’s the first thing I heard when I woke up this morning, and I thought “Yeah, so?”. Does anyone (besides bush who called it *yet another* turning point today) really believe that what’s his name being out of the picture is going to help the situation? I may be wrong here, but I’m starting to think that Bush and co. don’t even understand what the basic concept of terrorism is. Either that or they do, and are using to their advantage and everyone else’s misfortune.

 
 

“bush who called it *yet another* turning point today”

Well, sure, spinning requires pretty much constant turning points, right?

 
 

How many turning points have we had? Have we completed the square yet? Are we back at the starting point?

 
 

Maybe Abu Azzam is #2 alphabetically?

 
 

Those poor No. 2 guys have a shockingly short life expectancy — quite unlike the No. 1 guy. Funny how that works.

 
 

Maybe Zarqawi’s outfit is run sort of a like a bank — where everyone above the tellers is a “vice president.”

 
 

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