Thursday, June 08, 2006
GOOD NEWS!! Zarqawi DEAD!!
The United States killed Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi this morning. Read the news here. Read an Iraqi response here.
Now, is this good news? Of course it is...we managed to lop off the head of the al-Qaeda leadership. There are questions, though....
1. Will this signal the end of the terrorist attacks? Probably not. There is a chance that this is the beginning of the end (and we’ve been looking for that for a long time), but the chance that the terrorist group will just up and leave is rather small, given the operational structure of terrorist cells. We have hurt them, though, and it puts doubt in the terrorist leaders mind.....because one of the things that the terrorists and other enemy fighters had in Iraq was the fact that the Coalition couldn’t get Zarqawi. Well...that won’t sell anymore.
2. Will GWB get credit for this, as much as he gets lambasted for each and every death. As a corrollary, what will the hard left say about it? It should be a fun thing....watching the anti-Bushites contort themselves into making this a non-issue.
----Oops...thanks to the lovely Michelle Malkin, I see the answer to my second question is already coming. Polipundit is all over it as well.
Good for Iraq! Good for the War on Terror! This is a good shot in the arm for the Iraqi government, and for the War on Terror. I will comment later this evening on the ramifications.
UPDATE: (8:52 PM EDT) OK...the ramifications.
One of the biggest things about this is that the information came from three sources that few expected.
First, the prisoners that the Coalition has taken over the past few years. I wonder how many of those prisoners have gone through what Andrew Sullivan would call ‘torture’? Since most of the people that ‘torture’ prisoners seem to agree that torture (as opposed to ‘torture’
doesn’t seem to work well, i.e. you get someone who is telling you anything to make you stop, I wonder what is working, and how fast that can be spread to other camps and interrogation centers. Another part of this is the fact that these terrorists were supposed to be ready to give their lives for the 72 virgins. Not so tough, huh? And, hardly a recruiting tool.
Second, informants were IN AL-QAEDA itself. The importance of this cannot be understated, because it immediately and assuredly raises the level of tension and mistrust within the terrorist cells themselves. Who is the traitor that will turn them in to the infidel? Who should we trust? Any racial antagonisms, or antagonisms between Sh’ia and Sunni, will be amplified. The cohesiveness of the groups that make up Al-Qaeda has been struck a blow by the fact that informants within the terrorist organization worked with the hated Americans. These people are bigots against everyone anyways, and bigots only trust others when it helps them...and then not completely. Now there is the idea that some of their own aren’t their own. I love it.
Third, an Arab, Islamic nation (Jordan) helped us take him down. That is a great step forward as well. Untill now, the MSM (or, as Rush says, the Drive-by Media) has ignored the fact that we are a part of a Coalition.....we worked with the forces of two Arab/Islamic nations to kill Zarqawi...Iraq and Jordan. Add in Yemen, Qatar, Bahrain....and there are many countries in that region that have recognized what we are trying to do, and are helping. Jordan deserves a lot of gratitude. Sure, they had their reasons, but it is harder to make a stand against Arab terrorism when you are right there. Their exposure is higher, and the risk to their security is as well.
OK...comment!!
Comments
OK. I have a comment!
I can see the Bush-bashing already. The dailykos link contained all of the expected responses:
1. “And we all know that much of the violence is not masterminded plots of terrorism.” Well, that may be so, but this guy was certainly a ringleader, to say the least. The NewsHour even printed a letter from Al Quaeda saying what a great martyr and leader he was. So even if he wasn’t the great criminal mastermind we wish he was, he was certainly big stuff. Really big.
2. “And somehow he [Bush] will manage to convince the talking heads that this is a turning point (along with Mission Accomplished, Saddam’s capture, Falujah, and voting).” It IS a turning point. I like to compare wars to WWII. Was the invasion of North Africa a turning point? How about Sicily? Italy? Normandy? The Siegfried line? They all were turning points. Just like all of the ones mentioned in the quote above. Fact is, they are all turning points. They all made a difference, but it’s as if this guy expects each step to be the last. Sorry to disappoint, but be realistic.
3. “Some guy on ABC is saying this is a “nail in the coffin of Al Queda.” Bull ****. This guy was a face, a name, a few menacing lines about impending doom to us. The victory doesn’t lie in removing this man, nor any other true terrorists in Iraq. Instead victory is in making a peaceful nation in a land fractured by ethnicity and then war.” It certainly is a nail in the coffin. Coffins need many nails, and no one is suggesting otherwise. No one is claiming that victory lies in eliminating this man. But it certainly is one step closer.
4. “Where is Osama? Where are the batillions of trained Iraqis? Doesn’t matter, we got this guy, right?” Relax. We’re still looking for him!
What bothers me is the misrepresentation. He’s arguing against statements NO ONE IS REALLY MAKING! He’s taking simple statements to the extreme, and complains when they turn out to be garbage. It’s called a strawman argument, no?
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