Zarqawi Whacked, Iraqi Insurgency Continues

The US dropped two 500-pound bombs on a house north of Baquba in Iraq on Wednesday. Inside was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, “leader” of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and a first rate jackass. The kind of man who bombs a Muslim wedding in the name of Islam, he was a jihadi who couldn't unjam an automatic weapon without help. The world is better off without him, but the insurgency in Iraq was bigger than this wanker, and it may even get worse for a bit.

In a guerrilla resistance movement of any note, the death of the leader is bad but it is not decisive. President Bush was quite restrained when he told the world Mr. Zarqawi finally met Allah -- no “Mission Accomplished” banner, no flight suit, no west Texas trash-talking. The closest he came was saying that the death of this bozo offered an opportunity to “turn the tide” against the insurgency in Iraq. Well, maybe. The truth is Al Qaeda is less an organization now than a “do-it-yourself” movement, terror franchises operating locally (thus, London’s July 7, 2005 bombings and the recent arrests in Canada).

What the operation does show is Mr. Zarqawi’s immediate organization has been infiltrated and certain members turned. F-16-delivered bombs guided in by laser suggest there was more to it than “Special Operations forces, acting on tips and intelligence from Iraqis,” as Mr. Bush put it. Ned Parker, The Times' correspondent in Baghdad, suggested, “One of the most interesting things about the news of his death is the timing. There have been talks going on since the election last December by US and Iraqi officials to try to bring the homegrown insurgency back into the political process. Certainly there was tension between the homegrown Iraqi insurgency and Zarqawi's foreign fighters. So it’s possible a deal was finally cut by some branch of the Iraqi insurgency to eliminate al-Zarqawi and rid themselves of his heavy-handed influence.”

One must remember that the insurgency is not based on nihilism, but rather stems from a Sunni Arab frustration at losing their position in Iraq. Until the US-led occupation, the Sunni Arabs and Mr. Zarqawi had nothing in common (despite Mr. Cheney's false assertions to the contrary). It is, as all wars are, politics by other means. Mr. Zarqawi and the indigenous guerrillas were allies, but when he became a problem, he got fingered. Michael Corleone couldn’t have done it better.

This doesn’t mean the insurgency is going to go quiet while a leadership ballot is held. More than likely a few ambitious men will make even more noise to become the local face of the rebellion, the Iraqi Fidel or Che. That means more deaths and injuries in the short term. Long term, Mr. Zarqawi has become a martyr – and if enough of the Fascislamists are martyred, they will lose.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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