Was Al-Zarqawi A Myth?

With the death of Al-Zarqawi, many questions have been raised, mainly dealing with the "myth" that surrounded him over the past couple of years.

Many, regardless of political affiliation were thrilled with the news of Al-Zarqawi's death this past week. Some even claim that it'll be a turning point in the war on terror, but, why exactly? There are some dots that need connecting before we can make such conclusions.

First off, whether it was set up or not, Al-Zarqawi made for a very useful and reliable public relations tool for the Bush Administration. Through him, Bush was able to link Al-Qaeda to Iraq, claiming that Al-Zarqawi was a leader of the terrorist group.

Secondly, why were leaked documents printed in the New York Times claiming that the Pentagon had falsified letters that took credit for insurgent bombings and attributed them all to Al-Zarqawi?

Al-Zarqawi starred in the fictional Nick Berg beheading video. He also was the main focus of a video, where it showed he didn't know how to operate a gun.

For those that believe the beheading video to be authentic and think that a gun would be pretty tricky to operate, even for a supposed-terrorist leader, then how about some perhaps, more "reliable" information?

Zarqawi had been described until January of 2003 as a "lone wolf." On October 3rd, 2004, it was reported in the Washington Post that Al-Zarqawi was "barely known outside Jordan until a year and a half ago." Author of the book, Al Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror, Jason Burke revealed that Al-Zarqawi may have had "some contacts with bin Laden, but he never took the bayat oath of allegiance and never made any formal alliance with the Saudi or his close associates. He was just one of thousands of activists committed to jihad living and working in Afghanistan in the 1990s." Burke also says that Zarqawi had "no real relationship with Al-Qaeda." Studies have found that only a few of the thousands of attacks launched by insurgents during the Iraq War were carried out through Al-Zarqawi's name. These studies also stated that the vast majority of Iraqis rejected Al-Zarqawi. U.S. Agents have admitted that they had blown Al-Zarqawi out of proportion. One said in the Australian newspaper, The Age, "We were basically paying up to $10,000 a time to opportunists, criminals and chances who passed off fiction and supposition about Zarqawi as cast-iron fact, making him out as the linchpin of just about every attack in Iraq." He went on to say, "We have to conclude that Zarqawi is more myth than man."

Links:

http://www.antiwar.com/article.php?articleid=9119

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2006/080606alzarqawi.htm