Al-Zarqawi - Worth More Dead Than Alive?
By Denise Best | Related entries in In The News, WarReports have been making the news source rounds this morning that terror leader al-Zarqawi might have been killed during a gunfight with U.S. forces over the weekend.
U.S. forces sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaida members died in a gunfight � some by their own hand to avoid capture. A U.S. official said Sunday that efforts were under way to determine if terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.,,,
Whether this is just a case of wishful thinking or even if this much sought after target has finally been eliminated, would al-Zarqawi’s death deliver a significant blow to the insurgent’s network?
Is the terrorist network such that al-Zarqawi, by himself, just as Osama before him, wields enough power that his elimination as a leader would deal a death blow to the cause itself? Or is there a line of al-Zarqawis who would fill a possible void?
Another piece of news from over the weekend would seem to have even more power to influence his followers.
Family members of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi renounced the terrorist leader Sunday after his al-Qaida in Iraq group claimed responsibility for the Nov. 9 suicide attacks on three Amman hotels that killed 59 people
The family of al-Zarqawi, whose real name is Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, reiterated their strong allegiance to Jordan’s King Abdullah II in half-page advertisements in the kingdom’s three main newspapers. Al-Zarqawi threatened to kill the king in an audiotape released Friday.
A renouncement such as this would seem to hold the promise of sparking others to come forth and challenge the actions of al-Zarqawi and his followers.
Captured and disavowed by his family, al-Zarqawi would prove to be less dangerous than if he were to be killed in a battle with the American Infidels and inevitably elevated to martyr status.
Al-Zarqawi would appear to be worth more dead than alive to his terror seeking brethern.
Just as the terror cells have a grassroots presence though, a counter voice by the people of this region needs to be delivered with their message being broadcast with the same fervor as that of the terrorists.
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November 21st, 2005 at 1:19 pm
Captured and disavowed by his family, al-Zarqawi would prove to be less dangerous than if he were to be killed in a battle with the American Infidels and inevitably elevated to martyr status.
Is martyrdom overrated? I recall a conversation on CNN a few weeks after 9/11/2001 where it was pointed out that martyrs were basically a dime a dozen in the Middle East. Also, if the purpose of martyrdom is motivation for those still alive to fight for the cause, it seems to me that the law of diminishing returns applies to martyrdom, because there comes a point where even the most zealous fanatic is as motivated as he’s ever going to be, regardless of how many more of his comrades have martyred themselves for the same cause.
November 21st, 2005 at 4:11 pm
My purely cynical reaction to the rumor of al-Zarqawi’s death yesterday was, “oh, no, not now.” He’s become quite an asset for the Americans in the Middle East. The more he kills fellow Muslims, car-bombs mosques, and blows up wedding receptions in Jordan, the more people in that part of the world realize the Americans aren’t the worst thing that can happen to them. He’s a royal screw-up, from a PR point of view, and even Osama’s henchmen have to write him scolding letters about it. I’m almost cynical enough to say, if al-Zarqawi didn’t exist, Bush would have to invent him. But I’ll leave that to Michael Moore to say.
November 21st, 2005 at 4:33 pm
The Christian Prophet blog early this morning seemed to confirm Zarqawi’s death. When government intelligence catches up, American public opinion should increase about 15% toward the Iraq Rebuilding. This should shove Bush’s approval up about 10%.
November 21st, 2005 at 4:41 pm
Cal,
Interesting that you say that Bush would have to invent Zarqawi if he didn’t exist. Democracy Now! had a guest on that essentially suggested that this occurred.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/10/1527205&mode=thread&tid=25
Her argument is that Zarqawi was small potatoes with no connections to al-Qaeda or Hussein, until Powell mentioned him in his infamous speech to the UN:
“LORETTA NAPOLEONI: Yes. Well, I think he’s correct. None of this information were actually true, in particular, the connection represented by Al Zarqawi between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Now, of course, the myth of this individual was created that day, because that day the entire world was presented with this new boogieman, with this new evil man. And that is true not only in the West, but also in the Muslim world. All of a sudden money start flowing to him, and also people start joining his insurgency in Iraq. So, in other words, we created this monster who now we can’t control.”
November 21st, 2005 at 4:48 pm
Like I said. Count on a moonbat to treat every whim or fancy as a deadly serious deliberate paranoid reality plotted by Shrubbie McChimplerburton the Death Merchant.