Word: al-zarqawi
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...called the new Iraqi Defense Minister an "interesting cat" and Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, the deceased al-Qaeda leader, "a dangerous dude." Bush had reason, finally, to strut. The al-Zarqawi raid had netted valuable intelligence data that were enabling U.S. and Iraqi forces to roll up al-Qaeda cells-the best haul since the capture of Saddam Hussein, which made it possible for U.S. forces to disable much of the dictator's inner circle in early 2004. What's more, the first elected Iraqi government was finally fully in place. Back home, Karl Rove was officially unindicted...
...clear, yet again, that Bush and Rove would surf the complexities of the conflict for their political advantage. "See, Iraq is part of the global war on terror," the President said. "And if we fail in Iraq, it's going to embolden al-Qaeda types." Rove helpfully added in a New Hampshire speech that al-Zarqawi wouldn't have been nailed if we had pulled out of Iraq, as Representative John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, recommended last winter...
...Rove's assertion was scurrilous and inaccurate. Al-Zarqawi had been eliminated through terrific intelligence work and air power, neither of which required a substantial U.S. ground presence in Iraq. The President's line of attack was accurate but lethally incomplete. His poorly planned invasion of Iraq created the atmosphere that enabled al-Qaeda-and the local sectarian conflicts-to flourish. Iraq had become, in small part, a war against al-Qaeda; for the most part, it is a local sectarian conflict-because of American incompetence. If the President had not allowed General Tommy Franks to "cut and run"-that...
...Mousab al-Zarqawi was a huge victory that led to the capture of some 800 insurgents and the killings of at least 100 more, officials said. But even as Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie trumpeted "the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda in Iraq," the U.S. military death toll passed 2,500, deadly attacks by insurgents continued, and al-Zarqawi's successor was named. A U.S. military spokesman identified him as Egyptian-born Abu Ayyub al-Masri, though jihadis said his name is Abu Hamza al-Muhajer. (A U.S. intelligence official said the man's real identity...
Even with the post-Zarqawi prognosis for Iraq unclear, a loud debate erupted in Washington over when to bring the troops home. The Bush Administration, which got a bump in the polls after al-Zarqawi's death, has talked for weeks about U.S. forces standing down as Iraqi forces stand up. With the Iraqi military and police up to 263,000-strong, some U.S. officers are privately saying it is time to start pulling American forces back. And some congressional Democrats renewed their calls for a pullout timetable...