Bush: al-Zarqawi death a 'severe blow' – Conflict in Iraq – MSNBC.com
WASHINGTON – President Bush on Thursday hailed the killing of al-Qaida leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi by military forces and said his death is a "severe blow" to the al-Qaida network.
"U.S. forces delivered justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq," the president said in the Rose Garden.
"Now Zarqawi has met his end, and this violent man will never murder again."
With Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death the American president gets some breathing room for a continued war in Iraq. There is hope that this is a "tipping point" in the war on terror.
What there will be, of course, is a new spike in violence, then a leveling off, until another, or a few more Zarqawi's are spawned. In the mean time the West gets to enjoy a few days or weeks of victory.
How is it possible for me to dismiss this, "major accomlishment"…to question it? Because there is nothing to celebrate here. There is only the grim, boring, meaningless cycle of violence.
But the "Rose Garden", from which the president speaks, does tend to inoculate one against the reality of the cycle.
