Abu Musab al-Zarqawi reportedly arrested in Iraq
This continues to be a breaking story, and there is no official confirmation yet from either "coalition" or Iraqi authorities, but China Daily, Kazinform (the Kazakh Information Agency), and ITAR-TASS are reporting that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been arrested in Baakuba, Iraq.
(Right now, 11:33 am CST, Christopher Allbritton is reporting that American officials are denying that Zarqawi has been captured, though earlier his sources indicated that someone big in Zarqawi's organization might have been captured. We'll keep our eyes and ears open.)
If true, this would be an enormous stroke of good fortune for "coalition" forces, and a slap in the face for Osama bin Laden, who just last December endorsed Zarqawi as al Qa'ida'a representative in Iraq (for Juan Cole's take on bin Laden's endorsement, look here).
Do not think for a second (and don't believe the hype) that this is anything like a "major setback" for the insurgency. Anyone who has studied guerilla movements and rebel insurgencies in the last thirty years realizes that the most effective ones are the least centralized, and have no clear-cut "leader;" all are interchangaeable because all are expendable.
Don't expect Zarqawi's arrest to mean an abatement of insurgent attacks; on the contrary, it could mean an increase.
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