Questions About Zarqawi

Christian Eric Ford in the San Francisco Chronicle is asking questions.

The facts released surrounding Zarqawi's death should raise red flags. The media have consistently reported that Zarqawi was killed by two direct hits from 500-pound aerial bombs while he occupied a single, rural dwelling. While the amount and type of explosives used in different aerial munitions varies substantially, an approximate kill radius for such a large high-order detonation -- that is, the radius in which a person would have virtually no chance of surviving -- is well over 50 meters.

The temperature of an aerial munition blast can reach as high as a few thousand degrees. Zarqawi apparently defied physics and logic. A government-released photo showed Zarqawi's face to be completely intact. U.S. Gen. William Caldwell denied that the photographs had been altered in any way. According to autopsy results released by the U.S. military, Zarqawi was allegedly conscious for nearly an hour after the monstrous blasts. In one last dramatic act of defiance, he turned his head away when an American soldier reached toward him as he lay on a stretcher.

Do the questionable facts surrounding Zarqawi's death point to a conspiracy? At the very least, it is worth entertaining reasonable alternative hypothetical situations . . .

Two 500 pound bombs were dropped on the house where Zarqawi was staying. Apparently there was not much left but Zarqawi was somehow not blown to pieces or incinerated.