Al-Zarqawi's death a long-sought U.S. goal

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

Tips from within Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's own terror network helped the U.S. locate and bomb a secret meeting among the al-Qaida leader and top associates at a safe house north of Baghdad, military officials said today.

And

President Bush and U.S. military leaders cautioned that the death of the 39-year-old militant was not likely to end the bloodshed — just as the capture of Saddam Hussein and the killings of his two sons failed to dampen the insurgency. A rash of bombings that killed nearly 40 people in Baghdad today confirmed that assessment.

And

At the same time, the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi, who was sensitive to U.S.-encouraged derision of a foreigner killing Iraqis, began cozying up to Sunni insurgents. It was probably the move that led to his undoing, said Ed O'Connell, a retired Air Force intelligence officer who led manhunts for Osama bin Laden and others in Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen.

And

Al-Zarqawi was known for his extraordinary brutality as one of the extremist leaders in the largely Sunni Arab insurgency, earning him the title of "the slaughtering sheik" among his followers. He is believed to have wielded the huge knives used in beheading American hostages Nicholas Berg and Eugene Armstrong. Grisly videos of the slayings were posted on the Internet, part of the propaganda campaign that was key to al-Zarqawi's movement.

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Some observations. Al-Zarqawi was a ruthless son of a bitch and I'm certainly not shedding any tears at his demise. Unlike the capture of Saddam Hussein, this probably will make Iraq a safer place, if only a bit. However, as a consultant observed on NPR this morning, Al-Zarqawi's organization only accounted for about ten percent of the overall insurgency in Iraq, so, even though the sheer brutality of the violence ought to slack somewhat because this guy was the worst of the worst, the overall amount of violence will probably remain the same. On the other hand, it's nice that Bush isn't heralding the end of the war this time like he did when they found Saddam. Finally, the above article has me already sensing US propaganda at play: it is self-contradictory in that it suggests first that Al-Zarqawi's own men gave him up, then, later, it suggests that Sunni insurgents did the deed; which is it? I figure that the Pentagon hasn't yet made up its mind which story will play better in terms of public image, both here and in Iraq. Can't those fuckers just tell us the truth?

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