The death of al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a precision bombing raid is a significant event in the battle against terrorism and insurgency in Iraq, but, as President Bush noted, it’s not the end of the struggle.
Indeed, Zarqawi’s death might inspire his admirers to acts of revenge. But it could also undercut the morale and leadership of the insurgency the same way a similar raid – also based on intelligence information – shocked Japan in World War II when U.S. planes intercepted and shot down an aircraft, killing Adm. Isoroku Yamamato, architect of the raid on Pearl Harbor.
We’re also cautiously optimistic because Zarqawi’s whereabouts in Hib Hib, a rural village 55 miles northwest of Baghdad, were discovered possibly with help from Iraqis inside the Islamic terrorist’s own organization. That could signal that at least some Iraqis have wearied of terrorism’s fearful toll.
Zarqawi was hunted down just as Iraq’s fledgling government finally named cabinet members to fill three key ministries: interior, defense and national security.
He was the mastermind behind videotaped beheadings of American hostages and the deaths of thousands of Iraqis and coalition troops in suicide bombings and other guerrilla attacks. Zarqawi also had incited sectarian strife between Iraq’s Sunnis and its Shiite Muslim majority.
But, the bloodshed he visited on others finally caught up with him as two 500-pound bombs were dropped on a house by U.S. F-16s. He was meeting with other insurgents, including his spiritual adviser, Sheik Abdul Rahman, who, with at least five others, died in the raid.
Zarqawi, who also had staged attacks in Jordan during his bloody career, was a disciple (and also a rival) of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.
“Osama bin Laden called this Jordanian terrorist the ‘prince of al-Qaeda’ in Iraq,” President Bush said Thursday, congratulating the U.S. military personnel who got Zarqawi. But, perhaps chastened by earlier, premature declarations of success, the president added a caveat: “Zarqawi is dead, but the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq continues. We can expect the terrorists and insurgents to carry on without him… (His) death is a severe blow to al-Qaeda.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Mailiki said, “Today, Zarqawi was defeated. This is a message to all those who use violence, killing and devastation to disrupt life in Iraq to rethink within themselves before it is too late.”
Zarqawi’s hands were stained red with the blood of innocents. So are bin Laden’s. He deserves the same fate as his protegé.
