At approximately 6pm in the evening Iraq time on Wednesday, the thug who called himself Abu Musab al-Zarqawi left this world assisted by two American-made 500 pound bombs that fell from the sky. The American military has rid Iraq of a murderer of women and children and a coward who will be missed by almost no one. President Bush and the United States Military should be hailed for assuring that there is one less evil man on Earth today. This death shows that the American military is at its best when it is backed by moral authority and clarity of mission.
This coward, however, caused significant death and destruction before he was sent off to face the Infinite Justice that now awaits him. Below is a partial list from the BBC of the horrors that were unleashed by this monster:
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28 Oct 2002: US diplomat Laurence Foley killed in Jordan
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19 Aug 2003: Bombing of UN office in Baghdad, 23 dead
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29 Aug 2003: Bombing of Najaf shrine killing Shia cleric Muhammad Baqr Hakim, 85 dead
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2 March 2004: Co-ordinated attack on Shia mosques during Ashoura ceremony, 181 dead
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11 May 2004: Nick Berg beheaded, first of at least nine foreign hostages killed in 2004
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14 Sept 2004: Car bomb targeting police recruits in Baghdad, 47 dead
- 19 Dec 2004: Car bombs in Najaf and Karbala, 60 dead
- 19 Aug 2005: Rocket attack in Jordan on Israel and US navy
- 9 Nov 2005: Triple attack on hotels in Amman, 60 dead
Today is not a day to rejoice. Instead, it is a day to remember the many innocent lives that were extinguished by his rampage of killing. Many innocent Iraqi mothers and children whose names we in the West do not know have died by his command. Of all the murdered, I want to highlight two today as a way of remembering all the slaughtered.
When Zarqawi bombed the UN office in Baghdad, he took the life of Sergio Vieiro de Mello. Mr. de Mello was a humanitarian who spent nearly his entire adult life working to help the most unfortunate among us. When this man was killed the world lost a tireless supporter of Human Rights. His loss is also a personal one for me. As one of his first missions for the United Nations, Mr. de Mello served in Bangladesh in 1971 working with refugees during its war of independence.
Zarqawi, the animal, personally beheaded Nick Berg in an act of unspeakable cruelty. He also videotaped the murder in order to show how tough he was. Instead, the video stands in graphic testament to this man’s cowardice. Only a coward sees bravery in killing a bound and helpless human being.
Today this terrorist is dead. He is not martyred – he is simply ended.
Mash, today I looked into the victims of Zarqawi because I felt they deserved more attention than he did. Then blogger did their thing and was not accessable for most of the day (what’s new) so their went my window of opportunity to post a long post. I am glad that you put it in good perspective and gave a clear outline/chronology of some of the crimes he committed. I am sorry to hear about your friend..when war becomes personal…it is difficult to convey that. At least your friend died leaving a proud legacy for himself and his family. Imagine Zarqawi’s.
Ingrid
Ingrid, I did not know him. My father did.
However, he helped save a lot of people in Bangladesh and for that I am indebted.
One person can make a tremendous amount of difference, as he showed us. He was likely to become the next UN Secretary General if he had lived.
For a man like him to have met such a tragic end is an affront to all of us.
Mash, I’m not rejoicing over al-Zarqawi’s death. Sure, the world’s a better place without him but who says al-Qaeda doesn’t have a new #2 waiting in the wings to replace him?
Wasn’t it our mistake of invading Iraq on faulty intelligence that empowered this miscreant in the first place? Think about it for a moment…no invasion, no cesspool of death and destruction for everyone that inhabits its borders.
And what about getting Public Enemy #1? Is it that hard to locate Osama bin Laden?
No doubt about it. It is our invasion that allowed this nuts to set up shop in Iraq. The next guy will pick up where this guy left off.
Before the invasion, he was a two bit thug. The chaos after the invasion gave him an oppurtunity to do some killing.
I wanted to focus a little on the victims of his murders today. The rest of the world seems to be focused on whether this will raise Bush’s poll numbers. Today the US military killed a very bad guy. I am certainly not against that.
I wanted to do a follow up post tomorrow on the impact of his death to the insurgency and chaos in Iraq.
Mash,
Thanks for distilling the important points, making it plain and real. I do not want this man’s head on a platter or on a wall trophy. I want to know the cause of the symptoms of which he represents.
Mash
I am purely speculating, But I believe Jordanian intelligence infiltrated and compromised Al Zarqawi’s Iraqi network. The 17 coordinated raids and continuing operations , are the bigger unnoticed story. Jordanian Intelligence is supposed to be among the regions best and with an organization like Zarqawis that needs constant new recruits, I am surprised that it took this long to infiltrate.
The violence will continue and Bush will continue to blame Al Queda. This administration needs to tie Iraq to the GWOT and will not admit that the insurgency is mostly Iraqis opposed to the occcupation.
Aunty, I suspect they will be doing victory laps until the next set of dead bodies pile up.
Keefer, with Zarqawi gone, it will actually hurt Bush in his argument that Iraq is part of the GWOT. He needs a boogey man.
I think you may be right about Jordanian infiltration. The Jordanians said as much initially until the Administrations started to talk it down. This was only a matter of time anyway. Zarqawi did not get along with the Sunni insurgent from the start. He was interested in just killing, while the Sunnis were interested in getting the Americans out.
Besides foreigners in Iraq stand out like sore thumbs.
this man is a coward? you guys don’t know what cowardice is…you guys couldn’t spell cowardice…how about y’all strap on some boots and head on out to Babylon, or better yet instead of sending 500lb bombs, one of you should have gone nad get him like the real men you are…let me get this…you guys will sleep better tonight because the phantom Zarqawi is dead right? riiiiight.
al-fallujah, just because the US invasion of Iraq is illegitimate does not mean this guy is not a coward.
Zarqawi has killed more Iraqis than he has Americans. The civilians he has killed were not armed. Killing unarmed civilians is cowardice. It also does not take much bravery to cut a man’s head off when the man is beaten and tied down. It takes thuggery.
I’ve seen plenty of cowards in my life. And most of them were holding a weapon pointed at unarmed civilians. There is no other word for it but “cowardice”.
I am not sure how defending Zarqawi is in the best interests of the Iraqi or Muslim people. I am not sure how what Zarqawi is doing can be considered defending Iraqis. Explain it to me.
And, my friend, you are barking up the wrong tree. I am not exactly a supporter of the US invasion of Iraq. Feel free to read my other posts.
But, again, support or lack or support of the war has nothing to do with recognizing that Zarqawi killed a lot of innocent people. There was not even a claim of legitimate self-determination of people. The man wasn’t even Iraqi. In that, he is quite apart from the Iraqi insurgency.
So, now tell, me, what is your definition of cowardice?
By taking the position you are taking, you are joing the ranks of the extremists on both sides of this nonsense of a war.
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most people r reely cowards an no can be reel man like me an jus do any kine they like