Zarqawi killed in Iraq air raid

[winterbadger]

Militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has announced.

...

Jordanian-born Zarqawi was said to have been in a meeting with associates at the time. Several other people were reported to have been killed in the raid.

[The head of US-led forces in Iraq, General George] Casey said Zarqawi's body was identified through fingerprints, facial recognition and known scars. He promised to give more details on the raid later on Thursday.

from the BBC

I have to say, that's one of the first good pieces of news in a long time. It won't solve the insurgency. It probably won't even slow it down in the short term. But my impression is that, unlike bin Laden who inspires, Zarqawi controlled through fear. And with him dead, that's just a bit less fear that Iraqis have to operate under, and a bit more cofidence that bad things can happen to bad men, rather than just to ordinary Iraqis.

Comments

[peaceful-fox.livejournal.com]

Good riddance to him. I don't know who will take over from here, but it will have to be someone who will have to have a lot of charisma, and I don't know of anyone in the picture. Perhaps the groups will splinter even more than they already are.

Guardedly Optimistic...

[motherwell.livejournal.com]

yay.

[mazzie.livejournal.com]

I was thrilled to hear it, too. For some reason I was up at 2:30 this morning when BBC was getting ready to cover the press conference.

It's a peculiar feeling for me to celebrate someone's death.

[winterbadger]

For some reason I was up at 2:30 this morning when BBC was getting ready to cover the press conference.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. :-( Not an hour to be up happily, I should think.

It's a peculiar feeling for me to celebrate someone's death.

Yes. However, one of the comfortable things for me about having decided to no longer follow my Christian upbringing is that I no longer feel the need to love my enemies, to feel guilty for being glad that someone is dead if I believe that person to have been very, very wicked.