The Death of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi

Of course the world is abuzz with the talk of the death of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. Once again, I’m puzzled. I find that happens a lot lately.

The first thing I find odd is that apparently there was a camera that took a picture of his head (hey, that’s what they are reporting) two minutes after the second 500 pound GBU-12 laser-guided bomb fell on the house where he was found.

So let me get this straight. Somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand pounds of explosives drop on a house. And probably not a very strong house at that – we are talking about a country that’s not exactly a superpower here (and I don’t say that to demean the Iraqi people, just to make a point). So this house takes on a thousand pounds of explosives and within two minutes we’ve got pictures of the guy’s head? Does anyone else find that odd?

Let’s let that go for a minute and move on.

According to the paper, he was identified by his face, scars and tattoos. According to the news this morning, he was identified by fingerprints. A picture in the paper says it purports to show Al-Zarqawi. So they know his face, scars, tattoos and fingerprints, but they aren’t even sure if it’s him in the picture? It’s not like it’s a grainy picture. It’s a pretty close-up picture, very clear.

Then there is the problem that he apparently doesn’t know how to shoot a gun. Okay, so a mastermind doesn’t have to pull the trigger. I can actually let this one slide. But it sure seems like a lot of people put a lot of hope behind this one guy and there are a lot of loose ends. Surely one guy in the whole terrorist network doesn’t make that big of a difference?

Tell me that he doesn’t make a difference. Tell me that there’s something else that makes us safe and that the ridiculous amount that has been sent to track down this one guy (or perhaps some guy who may or may not be him) isn’t meant to dismantle the terrorist threat. Please. Someone. Tell me.