Zarqawi Killing means nothing in Sectarian divided Iraq

[Jersay]

CAIRO (Reuters) - The death of Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq showed deep splits on Thursday between Arabs who see the Iraqi insurgency as resistance to occupation and those who say al Qaeda gives Arabs and Muslims a bad name.

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But few ordinary Arabs or analysts expected that the killing of the Jordanian-born militant would have much effect in reducing the level of violence in Iraq.

Some Arab citizens hailed Zarqawi as a hero for his role in the insurgency but others welcomed his death as a form of justice for the civilians killed in bombings by his group, which calls itself al Qaeda in Iraq.

Another view was that the United States, anxious to find a scapegoat for its troubles in Iraq, deliberately demonized him and exaggerated his significance as a militant leader.

Zarqawi was killed on Wednesday night in a U.S. air raid in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.

"He died for the sake of God. After giving so much and having such incredible courage, Abu Musab the lion left us after humiliating the Americans. Pray for his soul," Khaled al-Saleh wrote on the Web site Montada.

"Thank God this wayward infidel is dead," wrote a chatter identified as Azizi on another Web site. "All true believers have been relieved of his evil."

Abdullah, a 29-year-old Saudi secretary, put the third point of view: "I consider Zarqawi as nothing more than propaganda for the Americans. He's just a name, a rumor so that they have somebody to blame everything on."

Arab analysts were also skeptical about some of the high hopes expressed by western leaders including President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Bush said the killing of Zarqawi was a severe blow to al Qaeda and offered a chance for the Iraqi government to "turn the tide" in the struggle against the insurgency.

Mustafa Alani of the Gulf Research Center in Dubai said: "Maybe the bloodshed will decrease in Iraq now. But the problem is that whenever an extremist leader dies, he is replaced by a more radical leader. Zarqawi is a central figure but I believe that the organization will survive."

EXAGGERATION

"It will have some impact on the security situation but it won't be enough. Let's not exaggerate the impact," he added.

Diaa Rashwan, an expert on Islamist groups at the al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, said the United States had repeatedly exaggerated the probable effect of their occasional successes in Iraq and would do so again.

"Zarqawi in recent times did not represent an important element in violent operations on the ground in Iraq. Other groups which are not extreme, resistance groups not terrorist groups, have grown in strength," he told Reuters.

Several ordinary Arabs expressed strong hostility toward Zarqawi and welcomed his killing. But just as many others said he was a martyr who died fighting for the noble cause of ending the U.S. occupation of a leading Arab and Muslim country.

"We should have no regrets over the killing of a terrorist like him. He was mutilating the image of Islam. Hopefully bin Laden is next," said Lebanese Shi'ite student Sana Abdul-Nabi, referring to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

(Additional reporting by bureaus in Beirut, Sanaa, Dubai and Riyadh)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060608/wl_nm/iraq_zarqawi_arabs_dc

 

[EagleSmack]

Awwww... how sweet.

Face it Jersay... it ain't your day.

They got a leader, a symbol of the insurgency and the left will do their best to hunt down everything to discredit the meeting of Zarqawi and a 500 Pounder.

It's going to hurt. Stop it? No, but it will hurt.

 

[Jersay]

I give it a week possibly a month before they pick someone else who is going to take another 3 years to kill.

Glad he's dead. Didn't like his attacks on innocent Shite followers that killed at the minimum several thousand. However, they will find a new leader and i don't think it effects the other groups fighting, possibly the ones that may have links but not some insurgents.

 

[EagleSmack]

This guy was a superb organizer and was adept at using all means of killing, the media, etc. He earned that good ol' US Steel coming down on top of him.

Sure someone will step up but will he be as good as Zarqawi?

Yes they will rush a few suicide bombers out the door ahead of schedule to say

"See we're still being d*cks"

But in the long run losing Zarqawi is going to sting.

 

[Jersay]

I don't know if he couldn't handle a weapon how good a leader he is. But it will sting Al Qaida in Iraq for what happened to their force.

 

[EagleSmack]

Having knowledge of every small arms weapon does not mean you are not a good leader. The weapon he was having trouble with was a US made SAW or M-249. It was most likely captured and isn't a common weapon found in terrorist arsenals.

I was in the Marines for about 3 years before I got to fire a captured AK-47. I still needed to be shown the immediate action which is trying to clear a jammed round as Zarqawi was shown trying to do. That did not make me a bad Squad Ldr. I just was unfamilar with the AK-47.

He was firing the SAW, it jammed and he most likely said

"Hey... how do you clear this?"
"Just pull back on this... you're all set."

Of course this is all specualtion on my account.

 

[Jersay]

Funny that is what I said when the video was shown by the U.S miitary.

 

[EagleSmack]

And it is probably correct. Sure it is used to make him look like an idiot to his followers that believed he was on the front lines fighting everyday and does not know "immediate action" of a SAW. But they also showed one of his baffoons grabbing the barrell of a hot weapon. What a dope.

But nevertheless he was their top guy, the Al-Queda poster boy... and he went out on a stretcher.

 

[Jersay]

Yes. And like any government or organization someone will replace him and until the Al Qaida in iraq is destroyed somehow, the people getting sick of them, destroyed with no members left, or moving on to another field of operations it really isn't going to do anything and has the other Iraqi groups left.

But I was wondering, this may be a good sign for Al Qaida in general. Because Zarqawi turned it from hating America or the West which is their mainstay of getting recruits anywhere and turned in into a Muslim versus Muslim conflict. When he wanted Sunni to kill Shites. I wonder if it is better for him to be dead so all Muslims can join Al Qaida??

 

[DurkaDurka]

"All Muslims" you say. You presume "All Muslims" want to join Al Queda?

 

[EagleSmack]

Yes. And like any government or organization someone will replace him and until the Al Qaida in iraq is destroyed somehow, the people getting sick of them, destroyed with no members left, or moving on to another field of operations it really isn't going to do anything and has the other Iraqi groups left.

But I was wondering, this may be a good sign for Al Qaida in general. Because Zarqawi turned it from hating America or the West which is their mainstay of getting recruits anywhere and turned in into a Muslim versus Muslim conflict. When he wanted Sunni to kill Shites. I wonder if it is better for him to be dead so all Muslims can join Al Qaida??

Yes but just because he is replaced does not mean he will be replaced by one as efficient in planning spectacular and creative attacks, propaganda etc. He earned his spot. Iraq made him and it became his final place.

And please, this muslim brotherhood is nothing but a myth. Yes it makes great press but after hating non-muslims they hate each other and are just as brutal to each other. Do you think the Shite and Sunni are now going to sit together and break bread? One thing is certain is that these arab countries not only dislike foreign troops, but they also dislike foreign arab terrorist blowing up car bombs in markets.

 

[Jersay]

No. Durka Durka.