Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Pretty remarkable news from Iraq: Iraqi group threatens to kill al-Zarqawi:
The effect of the handover may be to decouple Iraqi nationalists who are tired of the bloodshed from foreigners that they've tolerated. Let's hope so. One of the most clarifying images we saw when the Taliban fled was that of the Afghan population turning against the jihadi tourists in their midst. The increasing frequency of coalition attacks on Zarqawi-linked targets may point to a greater supply of tips about the Jordanian's movements. This is a development worth watching.
- A group of armed, masked Iraqi men threatened Tuesday to kill Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi if he did not immediately leave the country, accusing him of murdering innocent Iraqis and defiling the Muslim religion.
The threats revealed the deep anger many Iraqis, including insurgent groups, feel toward foreign fighters, whom many consider as illegitimate a presence here as the 160,000 U.S. and other coalition troops.
In a videotape sent to the al-Arabiya television station, a group calling itself the 'Salvation Movement,' questioned how al-Zarqawi could use Islam to justify the killing of innocent civilians, the targeting of government officials and the kidnapping and beheading of foreigners.
The effect of the handover may be to decouple Iraqi nationalists who are tired of the bloodshed from foreigners that they've tolerated. Let's hope so. One of the most clarifying images we saw when the Taliban fled was that of the Afghan population turning against the jihadi tourists in their midst. The increasing frequency of coalition attacks on Zarqawi-linked targets may point to a greater supply of tips about the Jordanian's movements. This is a development worth watching.
