Does the death of Musab al-Zarqawi even matter?
 

Does the death of Musab al-Zarqawi even matter?

not really.. maybe to bush and his team.

It matter to him

My concern would be that insurgents might just get even more crazy to get even as it were:2 cents:

drctfiesta has a new lover

how cute

The death of one person is not gonna stop a civil war

I don't think so, they'll have no problem finding a replacement.

I lived for a while in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and no matter how hard the police/army cracked down on drug dealers there was always a replacement.

They would announce they had arrested the number one criminal of Rio and the day after they would announce who the new number one was.

it might take teh wind out of the sails of young arabs wanting to become walking time bombs.

we shall see,
duke

It might also make Zarqawi a martyr and turn his cause into a crusade.

i didnt even know who he was until he died....

Probably not...

I think it does. First, for the american public, it's the first result after 2yrs. Then, I think we will see less iraqi attacks on iraqians. That can lead to reconciliation between shia and sunni and will speed up the transfer process. Which will allow increased pressure on Iran, with army units ready to fight at 1 border away from Tehran. Unfortunately, it won't be peace soon in that area.

About fucking time!

Not one bit... tho, he's now going to end up an exaulted figure within the followers and ... got no doubts... they are going to be even more resolute than has been shown so far.

BTW.. You notice... al-Queda conducted it's daily biz (objecting to Palestinian vote and still on the killing fields), as normal while we are all pissing about talking about al-Zarqawi?

Nice post. :)

bush invaded iraq, got shit from everything, and captured two guys who dont have ANYTHING to do with 911, that was the reason, but also NOT the reason to conquer iraq... are you following this? Hell i almost dont, thats exactly what the fucking US gov wants.

That I doubt.

If it's not Osama Bin Laden then I don't give a fuck! He will just find someone else to replace him and it'll be right back to spending my hard earned taxes to kill him too.

That's tight. :)

Actually I could check 3 of the 4 choices.

No...someone else will just come and replace him: Most likely

Expect massive retaliation from Al Queda: Definately, sooner or later and they will mention his death as the reason.

Yes and no...the US made him who he is by giving him the best field to play in: Iraq: Absolutely, he was a fucking nobody until we landed there.

Carpet bomb the lot of them

Read up on your history... it often has in the past. But hey, you got another post added to your count, congrats.

Very nice.

i would say there is a huge difference between drug dealers fighting for a billion dollar empire and a extreme religious fanatic doing his best to inspire muslims to fight and die in a holy war. they dont even compare.

of course it makes a difference when you put pressure on and kill leadership.

The huge difference between drug dealers and "extreme religious fanatics" is that the latter is totally committed and willing to die. I don't see any drug dealer even come near that level of commitment.

Look hard at what you think is eg al-Queda. It does not exist apart from that surrounding Osama bin Laden. If you were to define and label "al-Queda" - it's a gathering of committed units with a common interest from all over the globe and intent on conducting attacks and willing to die in the process. There is, or appears to be little contact between each cell. Each cell can also operate on their own without any higher command structure. It is rare, if ever, that any cell will be penetrated and, if it is, no biggie - there are plenty more.

What you are talking about is not just a series of "terrorist cells" - it's a mindset of a load of people (I dunno - could be many millions by now) - and far more than would ever participate in a terrorist organization. It's not easy changing the minds of people or having them accept new "deals".

There is an "enhancer" to terrorism like this. The longer there is percieved agression against them or whatever they belief they are defending - the bigger in numbers these cells grow.

And... bottom line.. there is no way on this planet that conventional forces can handle this type of "belief". This has been proven time and time again. Can you remember of any "terrorist organization" that was ever defeated? They all end up at a conference table doing deals - this current scenario will be no different - tho take decades to reach that conference table.

If you look at who sold him out you can see that they did it to get him out of the way and it is most likely going to make things worse.

Al-Zarqawi killed lots of Iraqi civilans against the wishes of Bin Ladden and lost al-Queda lots of support in the region. Look for an Iraqi, not a foreigner like Al-Zarqawi, to step up with Bin Laddens blessing and unite many of the 100+ resistance groups.

No but it's one less piece of degenerate shit on the planet.

Exactly Corona :thumbsup

Who knows for real.. but there did appear to be a "discord" recently between al-Zarqawi's actions and those of bin Laden. The actions of al-Zarqawi were not particularly helpful to bin Laden.

I never kept up with the soundbites lately.. but appears his "spiritual advisor" presented him on a plate? Any "spiritual advisor" in that area of the world is not doing this out of some moral obligations. He's told to do it :)

If only life were that simple it could be expressed in a one-liner :pimp

Absolutely it does on many levels, not worth my typing though

It will matter for a little bit and perhaps quiet things for a few days or even a few weeks, and then it will be forgotten, and then things will be bad again unfortunately

look at it another way.... you could compare the attitudes of many in palestinian controlled areas to those of the insurgents in iraq. in palestinian controlled areas however, they don't have this type of leadership and these types of massive attacks... because everytime someone sticks their head up, the isrealis kill them. that is the difference. that is the difference between having leadership with command and control abilities... the leadership to plan, coordinate, organize and execute major attacks. instead, in palestinian areas, you have idiots firing homemade rockets into settlements with zero effectiveness and an occasional suicide bomber killing a couple people.

will someone else take his place? doubtful. he was not well liked and did not have a lot of support. he was basically taken out by his own people. i think the whole "someone will take his place argument" is a little shortsighted since he was not a significant figure there anyway with the exception of the media attention he was able to generate.

no matter how anyone wants to look at it, fighting requires leadership. if there is constant pressure on leadership and they are constantly being killed, then there cannot be an effective fight. that is the value of putting constant pressure on and killing leadership.

is it a huge victory? not really. its a small PR victory maybe. but it is also a small victory in the sense that anyone wishing to stand up and take his place or become someone like him knows they can get taken out at any second and never see it coming. its a victory in the sense that it has been made clear that these types of people cannot opperate with impunity. its a victory in the sense that it is now clear that when you are beheading people and orchestrating mass bomb attacks, you will be hunted down and killed and you won't necessarily be enjoying the protection of locals or even that of your own people.

yes it matters a lot. especially to his victims families.

women really shouldn't discuss politics

Still to be seen, but I bet there are a lot of people looking over their shoulders right about now.

iraqians?

whoever voted "Yes...it is a sign things will start going better in Iraq"

i have a bridge to sell you

oh wait, i did last year ;-)

God damn right.

To the american public it is golden propoganda, to the siuation in iraq, when one leader goes, just like in all gangs and teams, another one emerges.

It's a very very positive development.