The Other 90% carried out by ordinary Iraqis.
Weaver: Zarqawi’s Death 'Significant' But Not 'Decisive' in Ending Iraqi Insurgency
Interviewee: Mary Anne Weaver
Interviewer: Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor
June 9, 2006
Mary Anne WeaverMary Anne Weaver, a veteran Middle East correspondent whose biographical article on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is in the current issue of The Atlantic Monthly,
says the killing of Zarqawi "is significant, but I don't think it's decisive." Weaver, who was an Edward R. Murrow Fellow two years ago at CFR, says
Zarqawi's organization was only responsible for 10 percent of the insurgent attacks in Iraq."While Zarqawi's attacks were the most spectacular, while Zarqawi was probably one of a number of key figures who actually played a crucial role in fanning sectarian warfare,
curiously the other groups are the ones which mainly targeted U.S. troops," says Weaver. With Zarqawi gone, it is important to know whether his group will "continue targeting Shiites, particularly civilian Shiites, or will it refrain itself—reprogram itself is a better word—and begin attacking coalition forces?"
You have an article on the life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the current issue of The Atlantic Monthly that you researched a few months ago in Jordan and elsewhere. What do you think is the significance of his death?Obviously it is significant, but I don't think it's decisive. It was a symbolic victory more than an ideological victory vis-à-vis what Zarqawi did. He certainly was the most brutal perpetrator of acts of terror in Iraq, but I think it's also necessary to keep in mind that he actually only committed some 10 percent of the total number of attacks.Where does that 10-percent figure come from? I've seen that elsewhere also.When I was in the Middle East in March, I talked to a number of intelligence officials in both Jordan and Israel. They first gave me the figure. It was later confirmed to me by a senior American officer who had served in Iraq.
And the other 90 percent of the insurgent attacks come from local Iraqis, is that your impression?
Exactly.
I guess Shrub is gonna have to find another boogeyman for his little brownshirts to rally behind, huh? Who could it be>
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