Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death could accelerate progress in Iraq
By Lee Schwarz
East Carolinian (East Carolina U.)
06/14/2006

(U-WIRE) GREENVILLE, N.C. — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has finally been subdued by U.S. forces. A figure of intense notoriety and who drew enough attention to garner a $25 million dollar bounty, equal to the bounty for Osama bin Laden, was the leader and main recruiter of foreign Islamic fighters into Iraq. A vast majority of U.S. military casualties are attributed to Zarqawi's men. His death by aerial bombing is seen as a huge victory against terrorism in Iraq. Germany's foreign intelligence chief, Ernst Uhrlau, said Zarqawi's death "cannot be overestimated."

While Zarqawi's death was a feat for the U.S. and Iraqi military the question is: Will his death serve as a rallying cry for the remaining Iraqi militants in Iraq? The insurgents are described as being "Very, very smart. They don't want to die," by Sergeant Christopher Schwarz of the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division fighting the insurgency in Iraq. There is no question that they are debating their options in the midst of severely weakened leadership.

It has been suggested that one of Zarqawi's deputies will step in to fill his shoes. Perhaps this new deputy will run a terrorist operation that more closely follows the goals of the international al Queda organization. The suicide bombings of Iraqi Shiites and attempts to plunge Iraq into civil war have marginalized Zarqawi from bin Laden and from the support he used to enjoy from among the rest of the Iraqi insurgency. Zarqawi had immense support when targeting U.S. military locations and none when attacking Iraqi Shiites.

The negative implications of Zarqawi's rogue operations hurt al Queda in the Islamic world so perhaps his death was more of an expulsion from al Qaeda than it was an execution by the U.S. military. It is possible that bin Laden used the U.S. to eliminate a political embarrassment using the al Qaeda name and consequently revoked Zarqawi's franchise rights.

A terrorism analyst at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai said "Al Qaeda headquarters will now have more influence on the Iraqi branch. At least, I think they'll be in a far better position than before." In fact Ayman al-Zawahiri bin Laden's number two man in al Qaeda wrote a long letter to Zarqawi telling him of his precipitous place among Muslim opinion makers. Zarqawi may have had an even lower job approval rating with Muslims than Bush. Strangely enough an al Qaeda take over of Iraq's insurgency may be stabilizing as al Qaeda has no wish for the anarchy which would result from an Iraqi civil war.

While Zarqawi's death will affect recruiting there are other insurgent groups independent of al Qaeda who may be a more serious threat to the peace and stability of Iraq. After news of Zarqawi's death hit the news prices of crude oil dropped $1 per barrel and the Iraqi government capitalized on the momentum by announcing the selection of two cabinet members.

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