Zarqawi
The Phantom of Iraq is dead. Hallelujah!
I can't figure out the picture featured at that website of Zarqawi's dead face. He seems to be laying in rubble but his face doesn't look like he just had two 500-pound bombs dropped on him. Clearly, somebody cleaned up his face before taking this picture.
Oh well. Everybody is doing everything they can think of to convince the world that this event actually just happened. They have to. There are a lot of people in the world who don't believe the word of the White House and the Pentagon. It's hard to convince someone about truth when you're known around the world for your lies. Everything looks like propaganda.
But will this new twist in the story of Iraq's "liberation" make any difference? I was reading yesterday about how American special forces have been tracking foreign insurgents lately and had eliminated all of the foreign leaders except Zarqawi. Clearly, if this is true, then the killing of Zarqawi represents a significant victory for America in Iraq.
There have been major victories for America's military in Iraq before: the fall of Baghdad, the capture of Saddam, the overthrow of Fallujah are just a few of them. Strangely, each victory has led Iraq deeper into the rabbit hole of terror and suffering and guerrilla warfare. Will the killing of Zarqawi be different? Does the killing of a legend ever make the legend smaller?
I'm not arguing that it was wrong to kill Zarqawi if indeed that event actually happened. I'm arguing that it was really stupid of the Bush Administration to make Zarqawi into a mythological legend. We set ourselves up here. Now we have created a legendary martyr. We have accomplished something even bin Laden himself couldn't have done!
Smart move, Washington.
I can't figure out the picture featured at that website of Zarqawi's dead face. He seems to be laying in rubble but his face doesn't look like he just had two 500-pound bombs dropped on him. Clearly, somebody cleaned up his face before taking this picture.
Oh well. Everybody is doing everything they can think of to convince the world that this event actually just happened. They have to. There are a lot of people in the world who don't believe the word of the White House and the Pentagon. It's hard to convince someone about truth when you're known around the world for your lies. Everything looks like propaganda.
But will this new twist in the story of Iraq's "liberation" make any difference? I was reading yesterday about how American special forces have been tracking foreign insurgents lately and had eliminated all of the foreign leaders except Zarqawi. Clearly, if this is true, then the killing of Zarqawi represents a significant victory for America in Iraq.
There have been major victories for America's military in Iraq before: the fall of Baghdad, the capture of Saddam, the overthrow of Fallujah are just a few of them. Strangely, each victory has led Iraq deeper into the rabbit hole of terror and suffering and guerrilla warfare. Will the killing of Zarqawi be different? Does the killing of a legend ever make the legend smaller?
I'm not arguing that it was wrong to kill Zarqawi if indeed that event actually happened. I'm arguing that it was really stupid of the Bush Administration to make Zarqawi into a mythological legend. We set ourselves up here. Now we have created a legendary martyr. We have accomplished something even bin Laden himself couldn't have done!
Smart move, Washington.
posted by Bill | 9:03 AM
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