Having reviewed most of this material, my view is that Zarqawi only became a significant player as a result of a US campaign to promote him as the manifestation of Al-Qaida in Iraq. The reporting of Australian journalist Michael Ware, featured in the Frontline documentary linked below, makes a convincing case that Zarqawi gained significant strength and influence over the home-grown insurgency. In combination with the work of Loretta Napoleoni, a picture emerges that suggests the US creation of Zarqawi greatly destabilzed Iraq. One must ask the question, was this destabilization intentional?



The following links consolidate a lot of information that might help answer the question posed above.

Washington Post reporter Thomas Ricks wrote a front page article on April 10, 2006 that states, "The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to internal military documents and officers familiar with the program."
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900890.html

Loretta Napoleoni had an article published in Foreign Policy magazine, which documents Zarqawi's rise. It claims that Zarqawi opposed Osam bin Ladin's call for internation resistance. Zarqawi was not part of Al-Qaida. Only after the US invasion of Iraq, and efforts to portrey Zarqawi as "an evil mastermind" that would serve as an identifiable target for US public consumption, did Zarqawi gain strength.

If the US government wants to argue that Zarqawi was a major force in the Iraqi insurgency, then the US must accept responsibility for creating him. It was only after the US propelled him into fame that money and fighters started to flock to his side.

Foreign Policy article (Access to the article might require a simple registration process).

Robert Fisk, veteran reporter in the middle east, and Loretta Napoleoni, author of the Foreign Policy article noted above, shares their views with DemocracyNow!
Fisk & Napoleoni on DemocracyNow!

The Blog GDAEman weighs in on the subject, linking to Loretta Napoleoni's book on Zarqawi.
GDAEman.blogspot.com Article
GDAEman

A DemocracyNow! interview with Arun Gupta, editor with the New York City Independent Media Center's newspaper, The Indypendent, also provides some insights.
DemocracyNow! Interveiw

A PBS Frontline documentary on the Iraqi insurgency draws heavily on the freelance reporting and videos of Australian journalist Michael Ware. Ware observed a transformation in the insurgency as the Bathists confronted the growing influence of Zarqawi and his well-funded operations.
Frontline video

In 2004, former UN inspector Scott Ritter, weighed in on the topic in an article entitled "The risks of the al-Zarqawi myth," published on Melbourne Indymedia.
Ritter Article

Proffssor Juan Cole has compiled numerous articles on Zarqawi.
Juan Cole Article collection

A June 11, 2006 article by Reuters, Dubai, closes by saying, "He was long said to have an artificial leg, fitted in Baghdad during Saddam Hussein's rule — a claim some U.S. officials used to bolster their case that the Iraqi president was conspiring with al-Qaeda. The tale about the leg — like so many of the myths around Zarqawi — turned out to be false."
Article