The AP reports that American airstrikes in Baghdad killed Sheik Abu Anas al-Shami, described as the spiritual leader of the terrorist group headed by Abu Masab al-Zarqawi:

The spiritual leader of a major militant group in Iraq, Tawhid and Jihad, has been killed in a U.S. airstrike and his Jordanian family is preparing a wake, a newspaper and Islamic clerics said Wednesday.

The spiritual leader of a major militant group in Iraq (news - web sites), Tawhid and Jihad, has been killed in a U.S. airstrike and his Jordanian family is preparing a wake, a newspaper and Islamic clerics said Wednesday.

Either the US and Iraqi forces got incredibly lucky and just happened to hit the car in which an insurgent leader traveled, or their intelligence operations are improving dramatically. I suspect it's the latter and not the former. As the US continues to build up native Iraqi security forces, the people terrorized by Zarqawi will find ways to let them know where the terrorists live and work. As long as US firepower remains at their disposal, that intelligence will prove deadly to Zarqawi and his ilk.

It's true that the insurgency has intensified considerably during the past month. American officials had been predicting this offensive for some time, knowing that Zarqawi would turn up the heat during the latter part of the election cycle to rattle Americans, as well as Iraqis trying to put an electoral system of their own in place. It's embarassing that they have been successful in their mission with such luminaries as Senators Joe Biden, Chuck Hagel, Dick Lugar, and John McCain. These men forget that such handwringing only encourages more terrorist attacks.

Biden, on ABC with Diane Sawyer yesterday morning, called for a change in policy in Iraq, but gave no more specifics than John Kerry's four-point plan that duplicates the efforts Bush already is making. The only difference is Kerry's faith in French and German "allies", who spent the sanction years sending arms to Saddam, and their willingness to send vast armies to replace the US troops he proposes to begin withdrawing next summer. In a more rational time, such a disconnect from reality would disqualify one from even consulting on foreign policy, let alone run for President.

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Seems we've gone Supranos on Zarqawi's "spiritual leader":Sheik Abu Anas al-Shami, 35, was killed when a missile hit the car he was traveling in on Friday in the west Baghdad suburb of Abu-Ghraib...Yes sir. If we keep up that kind of Israeli-style... [Read More]

Tracked on September 22, 2004 7:26 AM