IRAQ AL-QAEDA CHIEF KILLED IN AIRSTRIKE

SO-CALLED IRAQ AL-QAEDA CHIEF DEAD

Sources:

MSNBC

CNN

BBC


So, What Does All This Mean?

Very little. What has this kind of situation meant in the past? Very little.
But I will say, this is one of the bigger fish (A fish mostly created by the American media) that the U.S. has ever killed or captured so far, since 2001.

The American media, and the Bush administration, will no doubt turn this into an infomercial and they are going to bombard the American people with it as long as they can, especially with the Mid-Term Congressional elections coming up. Bush may even get a boost of a couple of points in the Polls. But any benefits will be short lived.

This means very little in terms of impacting the reality on the ground in Iraq. Dozens of Al-Qaeda chiefs have been killed or captured since Sept. 11th, 2001. And Dozens of other Lieutenants have filled those spots very quickly once those leaders are killed or captured. And the cycle just keeps going and going. Americans should not be fooled into believing that this guy conducted day-to-day operations in Iraq by himself. He had assistant commanders and deputy thugs to carry out his bloody terror plots. There are plenty of Lieutenants eager to take his place. In fact, this is a big part of their doctrine...being able to take the place of leaders in case of death or injury. This is how that organization has lasted for well over 5 years. This is built into their way of thinking because they expect to die.

If killing these top Lieutenants meant victory, then the U.S. would have won a long time ago and Al-Qaeda would be a topic for the history books. But we know this is not the case. When one of their leaders dies, another rises to the forefront. Within the next 30-60 days you will begin to hear about the new villain in Iraq- The next Al-Qaeda leader in that country. This is unfortunate, but true. I wish it were as easy as killing a terror leader in an airstrike, and the Republican U.S. government wishes it were that easy too, but it's just not that easy. The Al-Qaeda problem is not going away for a long time. Fundamental changes in U.S. strategy will be the only way to gain any ground in Iraq and in the battle against terrorism. Notice I try to avoid the phrase "War on Terror". "War" implies that there will be an "ending". But with this war there will be no clear end, as in a traditional war. And any such end will be several years away- possibly decades from now. Calling it a "War" was one of the first mistakes made by Bush & Co.

Zarqawi being dead good news? YES, Absolutely. The animal killed a lot of people, including innocent men, women, and children by the hundreds.

Will it solve the problems for the U.S. in Iraq? NO. There may be a lull as Al-Qaeda has to regroup. But the carnage and chaos will unfortunately continue.

What people need to understand is that Al-Qaeda is just a single component in the larger insurgency in Iraq. There are probably a few dozen different tribes and insurgent groups, many of which operate independently, under their own leadership, under their own philosophy, and with their own aims and objectives. But Al-Qaeda is one of the more brutal groups, responsible for the more spectacular attacks that cause the most carnage.

Al-Qaeda will probably try to stage a large event in Iraq within the next few months, to prove that they are still around and still the biggest monster on the block, despite the death of Zarqawi.