Al-Zarqawi is dead

I cross posted this from The Religion of Peace.


Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq is dead. Information from Iraqis and Jordanian inteligence. They also had his computer that was found after the last attempt on his life which he narrowly escaped. They made a missile attack on a safe house outside of Baqouba.

Al-Zarqawi had fomented violence against Shiites by calling them infidels. He was using a centuries old dissent within Islam to destabilize Iraq that would have world wide implications. Shiites make up mostly the Persian Moslem population. This includes Iran. With Iran's President calling for the coming of the hidden Imam he was also calling for the world domination by Shiite Islam. Al Quaida is a Sunni organization.

This will not put an end to the suicide attacks or to the general violent non sense in Iraq but this does give the new government a leg up on uniting the country. The announcement was coupled with the naming of the last two cabinet ministers, a significant completion of the Iraqi government. The variable is how are the anti war factions in the US going to spin this.

The investigations of civilian deaths in Iraq were becoming the blunt object those that want the US out of Iraq have seised upon to exasperate the effort. The death of Al-Zarqawi will likely become the basis for people such as John Kerry and Jack Murtha to call for an immediate withdrawal by claiming victory. The enthusiasm for abandoning Iraq as congress abandoned South Vietnam is just a little disturbing. The pace of handing the security if Iraq completely to the Iraqi government could be accelerated, but only after insuring they are ready, not to satisfy a capricious political faction in the US.

Al-Zarqawi is dead, good riddance.

Iraq Terrorism