Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq killed in 2006 and again in 2007 and then arrested last week (NOT!), is apparently now held in such low esteem by the U.S. military that it has slashed the reward posted for his death or capture from $5 million to a mere $100 000. According to a military official interviewed by U.S. News and World Report, “the overarching reason is his blatant ineffectiveness as a leader of AQI”. So the Egyptian has screwed up so badly that he’s not worth the bucks anymore? The jury’s definitely out on that one…
Al-Masri’s “capture” last week (asleep!) elicited headlines that left me once again wondering what the hell happened to the Western media’s famous scepticism:
Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leader Arrested In Mosul – Freeman and Sabah, Washington Post
Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri Captured – James Hider, London Times
Al Qaeda’s Leader in Iraq Arrested – Reuters
Al-Qaeda Iraq Leader ‘Arrested’ – BBC News
Abu Ayyub al-Masri Arrested – James Joyner, Outside the Beltway
Al-Masri the Egyptian Falls – Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club
Favorable Indicators – Jules Crittenden, Forward Movement
(Thanks to SWJ Blog)
