Zarqawi as a clown - 2

Thursday night, I wrote a post (video there) on the bizarre press conference where Gen. Rick Lynch showed "outtakes" of Zarqawi intended to make him look foolish. Here's a little more on the story that makes the whole thing just a little more curious.

But several veterans of wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, as well as active-duty officers, said in telephone interviews yesterday that the clips of Mr. Zarqawi's supposed martial incompetence were unconvincing....

"But as a military guy, I shrug my shoulders and say: 'Of course he doesn't know how to use it. It's our gun.' He doesn't look as stupid as they said he looks."....

But the retired and active officers said the public presentation of the tape did not address elements that were disturbing, not amusing: the weapon was probably captured from American soldiers, indicating a tactical victory for the insurgents. And Mr. Zarqawi looked clean and plump.

"I see a guy who is getting a lot of groceries and local support,"

Again, I understand the strategy of that mocking press conference by the US military, but as I said before, if you want to prove the guy's incompetent, perhaps having him evade capture for three years while still managing to conduct operations isn't the best way to do it.

I certainly hope the military commanders take Zarqawi as serious as he is, maybe that's what bugged me about all of this. The US military making jokes about this guy who is out there killing people and successfully fomenting the civil war, the guy who orchestrated the bombing of the Askariyah shrine in Samarra. I just don't see the humor Gen. Lynch was going for when Zarqawi appears to be free and achieving his goals.

And, as a reminder, the reason the military thinks they are hot on his trail is they have evidence he is moving his operations into Baghdad.