Friday, June 09, 2006
Iraqi's React to Zarqawi's Death
Most Iraqi's, being human beings, rejoiced at the death of the animal Zarqawi, whose favorite past-time seemed to be slowly sawing off the heads of living people:
"When my young son came and brought me the good news, I did not know what to do out of joy," Eqabbi said of Zarqawi's death. "I took my motorcycle and went to the traffic police sector over here where I work. I was shouting in the street and could see the people in the street with joy on their faces, for each family here has lost someone because of this guy. We thank God for what happened to him."
Back at Madhloom's restaurant, Sawsan Abdul Qadir, a nurse, reflected on losing his own brother in another car bombing. "He was a father of three kids," he said.
When Abdul Qadir heard about Zarqawi's death, he called his brother's wife. "She was so happy, and she told me, 'The Americans got revenge for my husband. I feel just like they brought him back alive for me.' Her oldest son was saying, 'They killed my father's killer.'
"Today, I forget all the sadness of losing my brother."
Still this quote from a Sunni is telling:
"Zarqawi was the one who put a limit to Shiite influence and all the killing of Sunnis," said Saad Saleem, a 32-year-old laborer. "It is a big loss. Who will fight the Americans the way he used to fight them? They were ready to leave the country because of his operations. Now there will be no one like him who will be able to push the Americans to leave Iraq. There will be no one to stop the Iranian Shiites. Al-Qaeda must look for a good replacement for Zarqawi. Otherwise the Sunnis will lose everything in Iraq."
"Ready to leave"? Where would he get that idea? Maybe from America's opposition party and reporting of opinion polls of Americans fatigued by daily media reports of inconsequential (to a strategic victory) violence.
Here is clear evidence, albeit anecdotal, that our media and our anti-war politicians are perpetuating the idea that America is about to withdraw from Iraq, and thereby encouraging the resisntence in Iraq.
And then the same people blame Bush for not having an effective war plan, when, it is my hypothesis, that if the hysterical critics were not actively creating a divided America, we would have succeeded in Iraq long ago.
