Death of a Bastard
Zarqawi the psychopath/SOB/bastard/opportunist has been killed. I'm sure no one will miss him, probably not even the screw-ups that have been following him. He took advantage of a war zone to get away with serial murders and to attempt to make himself into some kind of bad-assed legend. Unfortunately the governments and the Press of most western countries played along with this and built him up to be as big and bad as possible. Much like other serial killers, he probably got off on all the coverage and all the loathing.
However, a couple of months ago, both The Washington Post and The New York Times ran articles describing how the Pentagon had played up the threat of Zarqawi and co. for what they called the domestic audience. I posted about it here on World View (see "Propagandized" from April 10, 2006). Perhaps the Pentagon's rationale had been that making it look like there was this one bad guy behind everything horrible that's going on in Iraq was a useful vehicle for support for the war. And to their credit, it worked. However, after both papers of note exposed the, shall we say, dramatization of the Zarqawi phenom, perhaps he outlived his usefulness as a big bad wolf.
And now, the world is minus one psychotic f***-up. That's fine, but it won't change anything in Iraq. Every US General that has been quoted on the question of the make-up of the insurgency has admitted that it is mostly made up of Iraqis who see themselves as resisting an occupation. To be fair to the Generals, they also said that attacks by foreign fighters were more brutal and more deadly than those by locals, which made sense when you thought it through. However, if you look at the news over the last month, it looks like general brutality all around has taken over. This is a country in meltdown.
I see no other viable option for the Coalition than to start figuring out how to make three countries out of Iraq.
However, a couple of months ago, both The Washington Post and The New York Times ran articles describing how the Pentagon had played up the threat of Zarqawi and co. for what they called the domestic audience. I posted about it here on World View (see "Propagandized" from April 10, 2006). Perhaps the Pentagon's rationale had been that making it look like there was this one bad guy behind everything horrible that's going on in Iraq was a useful vehicle for support for the war. And to their credit, it worked. However, after both papers of note exposed the, shall we say, dramatization of the Zarqawi phenom, perhaps he outlived his usefulness as a big bad wolf.
And now, the world is minus one psychotic f***-up. That's fine, but it won't change anything in Iraq. Every US General that has been quoted on the question of the make-up of the insurgency has admitted that it is mostly made up of Iraqis who see themselves as resisting an occupation. To be fair to the Generals, they also said that attacks by foreign fighters were more brutal and more deadly than those by locals, which made sense when you thought it through. However, if you look at the news over the last month, it looks like general brutality all around has taken over. This is a country in meltdown.
I see no other viable option for the Coalition than to start figuring out how to make three countries out of Iraq.
Posted at 6/08/2006 02:52:00 PM UTC
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2 Comment(s):
How do we know he was a bastard? Who told us and why should we believe them after all the other lies we were told? After all, he was already declared dead in 2004 and 2005. Plus latest reports have him being alive and trying to get off the stretcher. Which makes me wonder how he survived the 500 ton hit reported. And if he did survive and was able to get off a stretcher, then how come all of a sudden he is dead?
Perhaps another inconvenient witness disposed off?
And then all 3 counrties can fight over the oil? Rumour suggests that at the moment it is in the US interests to ferment the unrest, as it enables them to keep control of the oil. So no splitting, but also no peace.
BTW, a good page for videos, particularly Bremner video 15 and 33(Beneath Iraq and a Hard Place):
http://www.thedossier.ukonline.co.uk/video_iraqwar.htm
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