Bigger than Bin Laden
Democrats will never admit it, but killing Zarqawi is more important, more significant, than killing Bin Laden, IMHO.
He was directing anti-coaltion efforts in what Bin Laden himself admits is the central front in the war on terror. Now he is gone. Now the new Iraqi government has a major feather in their cap. They also have a new defense minister, which would have been the big, positive development in Iraq today,
Iraqi Parliament Swears in New Ministers
The new defense minister is Iraqi Army Gen. Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim al-Mifarji and Shiites Jawad al-Bolani for interior and Sherwan al-Waili for national security.
The posts are considered crucial for al-Maliki’s government to implement a plan allowing Iraqi forces to take over security from the U.S.-led coalition within 18 months, opening the way for the eventual withdrawal of foreign troops. The appointments end a stalemate among Iraq’s religious and ethnic groups over the crucial posts.
Al-Mifarji, who is not affiliated with any Sunni Arab party, told the 275-member body that he graduated from the Iraqi military academy in 1969 and was thrown out of the military and Saddam Hussein’s now outlawed Baath Party in 1991 after he criticized the invasion of Kuwait _ which led to his conviction by a military court in 1994 and a seven year prison sentence.
This is important, a Sunni who has anti-Saddam credibility.
For more on Zarqawi, Instapundit has a great round up of new media links.
UPDATE: if you care to watch Zarqawi’s demise, click here.
June 8th, 2006 at 8:55 am
The Boston Globe will have this for a front page headline tomorrow:
“Freedom Fighter Killed and Undocumented Immigrant Family in U.S. Grieves”
Imagine if Kerry was in office? Thank God for the Bush administration to sticking to its guns to get rid of these radical punks overseas.
June 8th, 2006 at 9:47 am
From the 4/10/06 Washington Post article by Thomas E. Ricks entitled “Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi”:
“The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to internal military documents and officers familiar with the program. The effort has raised his profile in a way that some military intelligence officials believe may have overstated his importance and helped the Bush administration tie the war to the organization responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The documents state that the U.S. campaign aims to turn Iraqis against Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, by playing on their perceived dislike of foreigners. U.S. authorities claim some success with that effort, noting that some tribal Iraqi insurgents have attacked Zarqawi loyalists.
For the past two years, U.S. military leaders have been using Iraqi media and other outlets in Baghdad to publicize Zarqawi’s role in the insurgency. The documents explicitly list the “U.S. Home Audience” as one of the targets of a broader propaganda campaign.”
Is this recent news part of the propaganda campaign targeting the U.S. Home Audience? Yes, for sure. It is also the act of an increasingly desperate administration.
June 8th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
John,
I thought even you might find a shred of good news in the fact that someone who cuts off people’s heads in the name of religion has been killed. Guess not.
Kevin
June 8th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
Hmmm, I disagree that this is bigger than Bin Laden. It is a victory, don’t get me wrong. But Bin Laden is public enemy number 1. He is a symbol, and he shows the world he can do horrible things to the US and cannot be caught. And no one really knows how much power he still holds (at least in the US.)
So big victory for US. But the world stops when Bin Laden gets caught. (and I hope he gets caught, not killed. Don’t turn him into a martyr.)
June 8th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
To quote my favorite politician, it depends on what the meaning of “bigger” is. By bigger, I mean having a bigger role in the day-to-day activities of the war on terror and the war in Iraq. Zarqawi was in the middle of it, directing actions against our troops and our mission on a daily basis. Capturing him has a bigger positive net effect on the US mission than capturing or killing Osama. I’m not saying it feels better, or that I don’t want to see Osama killed (forget captured, KILL HIM.) I just think Zarqawi had more of an immediate impact on what weare doing than Osama does from his cave, or his resort on the French Riveria, wherever he is.
Kevin