Zarqawi's Death Will Have Little Effect Upon War

Interview with Aaron Glantz, journalist and author, conducted by Scott Harris

A U.S. air strike which dropped two 500-pound bombs on a farmhouse north of Baghdad June 7, killed Jordanian-born terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, his spiritual adviser and four other people including a woman and a child. Since the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, Zarqawi, the self-declared leader of al Qaeda in Iraq had taken credit for hundreds of suicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. Before the war, the Bush administration had pointed to Zarqawi's presence in Iraq to help justify the war, although he was not in a zone controlled by Saddam Hussein.

Both President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki applauded the killing of Zarqawi, but acknowledged that his demise would not end the insurgency. Zarqawi's death diverted American media attention from the investigation into charges that US Marines had killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha last November.

Amid increasing opposition among Americans to the Iraq war, President Bush flew to Baghdad on June 13 to show support for Prime Minister Maliki's newly installed government. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with journalist and author Aaron Glantz, who looks at the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Haditha massacre and the impact these events may have on the course of the Iraq War.

Journalist Aaron Glantz is author of the book, "How America Lost Iraq." Read his articles online at: www.aaronglantz.com

Related links:

* "U.S. Military Hides Many More Hadithas," by Aaron Glantz and Alaa Hassan, Inter Press Service Agency, June 6, 2006

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