al-Zarqawi Propaganda

Abu Musab Saddam Osama al-Zarqawi was used by the Bush administration as part of the propaganda offensive leading up to the invasion of Iraq,

"... just around the time that the Bush Administration began changing its pretext for the conquest from "eliminating Iraq's [non-existent] weapons of mass destruction" to "fighting terrorists over there so we don't have to fight them over here." -Empire Burlesque

Predictably, Bush is calling al-Zarqawi's death "a severe blow to al-Qaeda and a victory in the global war on terror." But who believes even one thing that our "president" says?

Antiwar.com Blog points us to a June 7 posting on Strategy Page which predicted the death of al-Zarqawi:

Given that Zarqawi has become a loose cannon and that his actions are handicapping Al Qaeda's efforts, it seems reasonable to expect that an accident may befall him at some point in the near future. If handled right it can be made to look like he went out in a blaze of glory fighting American troops or that he was foully murdered. Either way, al Qaeda gets rid of a problem and gains another "martyr."... General Bill Caldwell has revealed that US forces relied on information that came from within Zarqawi’s own organization.