Iraqi Bloggers on Al-Zarqawi

“Great. ‘Gotcha’ with a slammer.”

[Tim Boyd / Flickr]

Asterism, Global Voices’ ambassador to the Iraqi blogstream, delivers exhaustive coverage of Iraqi bloggers’ reactions to the death of Al-Zarqawi. Don’t miss his round ups here, here and here.

We did some digging ourselves. Sami predicted Zarqawi’s fall (and the irrelevance of that fall) a year ago:

Rumours about Zarqawi and his status and his health are all over the news and with people asking questions and wondering about his status the question becomes, what relevance is there anyways? Already there are reports of the next leader to be and just like any multi national corporation, the loss of the CEO will not mean the end of their functions and their objectives….To me the capture of Zarqawi is irrelevant.

Sami, Zarqawi ?! And then what…, Iraqi Thoughts, 5/26/05.

AL-Zarqawi is just an illusion they created to raid the Iraqi towns, kill the men, and imprison them. And now; the show is over- and as they created his existence, they created the story of his killing. Very well, thank you, but we want a positive outcome, not a muscle show, and the manufacture of bogus military victories.

Faiza Al-Arji, Tuesday June 13, 2006, A Family in Baghdad, 6/13/06.

The story of AL-Zarqawi is one concerning the American people more than the Iraqi people. It is considered a powerful media hit, and a great military victory to the occupation troops in Iraq- there, in America. But to the Iraqis, it is just a play, and empty talk, like the play of capturing Saddam Hussein and his trial, what did the Iraqis get out of it? Did it bring on security and settlement, water, or electricity to the houses? Did it stop the bloodshed of the Iraqis? Of course not…

Faiza Al-Arji, Tuesday June 13, 2006, A Family in Baghdad, 6/13/06.