Among the more surprising things about the events so far is the, dare we say it, "grown-up" approach of the White House to the demise of the sectarian killer: a good 12 hours taken to confirm the death, a cautious statement from Bush that most Americans (asleep or frazzled as they get to work) will not have seen live, and the Iraqi PM getting to make the announcement first. While there'll be concerns about excessive focus on high-profile targets, other episodes of mass killing have shown the power of rhetoric to incite it, and of course al-Zarqawi was not just an ideologue but a practitioner of murder.
UPDATE: While being aware of the possibility of coincidences, it's interesting that the Wall Street Journal article to which we linked the other day had noted that Younis Tsouli -- arrested in England -- was closely tied to al-Zarqawi. A sudden burst of high quality intelligence about his group's operations?
Also, he gets an obit in the Times (UK). The related obit in the Telegraph prompts some thoughts on the practice from Chris at Crooked Timber.
FINAL UPDATE: Just to close one loop on this post, Tsouli has now pleaded guilty to incitement of terrorist acts.
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