Good Riddance
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in The War On Terrorism, WarLadies and gentleman, we got him.
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most-wanted terrorist in
Iraq who waged a bloody campaign of beheadings and suicide bombings, was killed when U.S. warplanes dropped 500-pound bombs on his isolated safehouse, officials said Thursday. His death was a long-sought victory in the war in Iraq.
Is this a more important win than nabbing Osama? Discuss…
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June 8th, 2006 at 11:14 am
Less important from a propaganda perspective, but more important operationally. Overall, I’d prefer Osama, but al-Zarqawi is a close second. I suspect a lot of Jordanians are rejoicing today.
June 8th, 2006 at 11:15 am
I’d prefer both, but I’ll take one. =)
June 8th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
I’ve posted my thoughts on my newly-resurrected (and reinvented mainly as a vehicle for extended comments such as these) blog.
June 8th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
More important for the subtext of effective (finally!) coordination between Iraqi security forces and U.S. forces. This could signal a turn in the war strategy.
My thoughts on why this should mean redeployment of troops instead of stay the course at Radical Georgia Moderate.
June 8th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Let’s get right to the invective: Earlier today, two five hundred pound bombs were dropped on the Democratic electoral strategy to paint Iraqi as a never-ending series of blundering quagmires perpetuated by Bush Co. and the U.S. military.
Sorry, JG, I just had to – the doctor says it’s part of my borderline personality disorder. Anyway, hoorah for us! Yippy. We blew the shit out of that guy didn’t we. Ka-boom. Smash. Bam…can we go home now? We’ll celebrate! I’ll make margaritas and finger-foods for the entire 101st Airborne. Now would be the perfect time to get out. We can leave and save face — like killing this one asshole was the goal the entire time.
On a tangential note: If we can could do this twice a week, gas will be down to 40 bucks a barrel by the end of summer.
June 8th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
[...] BAGHDAD, Iraq – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most-wanted terrorist in Donklephant - 3 hours ago Iraq who waged a bloody campaign of beheadings and suicide bombings, was killed when US warplanes dropped 500-pound bombs on his isolated safehouse, officials [...]
June 8th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
I posted these comments in response to a similar post at American Future, but figure they could go here as well.
Waking up to the news of Zarqawis demise was a treat. As one of my professor’s would say “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy!�
That said, I do think that this is no time for overtly optimistic assessments. Piglito is right, the organization far and large is pretty decentralized and there are many others who can replace Zarqawi in no time (recall how quickly the Saudi head of al Qaeda was replaced). True, many of these were killed quickly thereafter, but there was always a replacement waiting in the wind, and there always will be. So, I don’t believe that there will be too much of a power struggle to replace him.
Further, even if there is, the foreign jihadist element in Iraq has for some time been more of a nuissance to our efforts there than the real threat to goals there. The real threats are native sunni militias that continue to refuse joining the current government and have local support to carry their anti-coalition activities. These will be harder to kill, or coopt (as those than can be coopted already have been). In addition, Zarqawi was a foreigner, and one who was not good at PR since everytime he spoke he alienated Iraqis more and more. The other and perhaps more important threat comes from the shiite militias that have infiltrated all of the security services and begun to implement their visions of Sharia in different parts of the country. Much of the south is ruled by them, and their laws are almost as restrictive as those of the sunni jihadists with regard to the population.
Sectarianism is now the biggest enemy, and as new attacks between Shiites and Sunnis continue to increase, it will matter not that Zarqawi is dead.
It is a great victory for us that he has been terminated, there is no doubt about it, but we must keep his death in perspective. He is not bin Laden, nor is he Zawahiri. In fact, his death may actually help these, as they were begin to feel the impact of his rising star among the al Qaeda faithful everywhere. With him gone, they remain the undisputed leaders of the jihad. With that point made, by all means let’s celebrate the fact that this evil and sadistic man is dead, but keep in mind that the struggle is far from over. He is but one man, charismatic yes, but one man in the end.
June 8th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
More important than getting Osama? Am I in bizarro world. It’s not the time to celebrate when a man who engineered 9/11 is allowed to frolic in the mountains of Pakistan. Good riddance to al-Zarqawi but the killings and Iraq’s freefall will continue under this administration.
June 8th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
Well, as Michael Yon and Glenn Reynolds have both pointed out on their respective blogs, Zarqawi’s specialty, though he was a ruthless murderer, lied in propaganda and public relations more so than any real militaristic forte. He really was the towering figure that he was because media made him that way.
I am not saying that this isn’t a great day both for the US and Iraq, this is a tremendous defeat. I just wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’s more important than catching or killing bin Laden.
June 8th, 2006 at 5:06 pm
My wife and i agreed a few weeks ago that the death of this devil would be cause for celebration; I’ll be stopping by to get a bottle of wine on my way home. Seeing the bloated and bleeding face of aZ was enough to put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. Does that make me a bad person?
While the Islamofacists share our rejoicing in the death of this man, after all he is with Allah and 72 virgins, Nick Berg’s father has some unbelievable feelings toward the whole thing. He blames Bush for the death of his son and not the asshole who used a butterknife to cut his son’s head off. It is frightful to see the bitterness in a man who can’t blame aZ for ordering the beheading but instead points his finger at the president. I guess it is easier to blame the president when you can see him on television everyday when the guilty culprits are hiding under rocks.
OBL. You are next.
June 8th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
I’ve been singing this all day: “Ding dong the terrorist is dead….”
Congrats to the Iraqis and Coalition troops!
June 9th, 2006 at 12:20 am
“Ding dong Zarqawi’s dead
dropped a bomb, on his head
Ding dong that wicked **** (rhymes with stick) is dead.
Ho-Hum that terrorist scum
got blown up, now he’s done.
Ding dong that wicked **** is dead!
June 9th, 2006 at 7:50 am
We got the guy who engineered 9/11. His name is Khalid Sheik Mohammad, he was captured in Pakistan in 2003. Osama bin Laden simply paid for the operation. As long as all of OBL’s assetts remain frozen and he spends his time running around in caves trying to survive, he is less dangerous than Zarqawi, who was an active combatant in a live theater.
June 12th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
I think there is a good chance that OBL is living in a swank hotel suite in Tehran — one of the safest places for him to be, actually. No reason to think the man is being a cave-dweller. It makes us feel better to think that, though. We may have frozen the assets that we could trace and get a hold of (and that may be enough to have crippled AQ operationally, a good thing), but it is highly unlikely that we have frozen OBL’s assets or access to funds to the point of causing him any personal discomfort. I could be wrong, but it my best guess.