Zarqawi is dead, long live Zarqawi?

Ahmad Fadhil Al Khalaileh aka Abu Musab al Zarqawi, by his own admission a cold-hearted killer who used to revel in slaughtering innocent people by decapitating them, is dead. Those who live by the sword, die by the sword and all that. But will Zarqawi's death bring to an end the murder and the mayhem let loose in Iraq ever since that country was assaulted by the United States and Britain for no good reason at all? Or will it be "Zarqawi is dead, long live Zarqawi" as another, then another, takes his place?

The latter, I am afraid, for there are as many Zarqawis out there as there are instances of US high-handedness, such as troops running wild and killing whoever comes in their way; as there are nights without power and water and sanitation, all three utilities knocked out during the 'shock and awe' fireworks we were treated to by the television networks during the assault; as there are kidnappings for ransom of school children because there is no law or order; as there are sectarian killings of innocent people because the occupying powers foolishly gave one sect preference over the other. And so on.

There is another, more important reason that he will be emulated by many others. And that is the completely avoidable importance the United States government and its Brit sidekick gave the man in death. While this too is understandable because of the dire straits both Dubya and Bliar find themselves in, some restraint should have been shown. The hoopla, the never-ending press conferences showing the dead Zarqawi's "battered face" as the Associate Press put it, the US ambassador to Iraq clapping like a school-boy who has just won the balance-the-egg-on-the-spoon race and beaming from ear to ear while standing next to Iraq's new prime minister will all be Zarqawi's enduring legacy. How many hopeless and angry young men looking for martyrdom will want to be remembered as another bugbear of bugbears to the most powerful country on earth, mentioned by the leader no less of that awesome power at a specially-arranged press conference?

What is done is done; the time is here for some little sense to prevail, and for the United States government to try and improve its image or what is left of it in Iraq by starting to take serious cognisance of the allegations of massacres of civilian non-combatants resorted to by their troops every now and again, and of the most inhuman torture of Iraqis. It does no good for America's name when beasts like the soldier who terrorised prisoners with his military attack dog are let off with 30 days hard labour. The man should have been sentenced to five years in any halfway-civilised country, and cashiered from the army.

The US government must also pump in massive funds for the repair of the civic infrastructure that their smart bombs and laser-guided bombs destroyed in Iraq. If over 250 billion dollars and counting can be spent by the US government on spreading death and destruction, surely one hundredth of that can be spent in trying to repair the damage to its name, and to the name of its hapless but good people. And last but not least, Dubya could apologise for the "collateral damage" -- the cold-hearted euphemism used by the US military for, in this case tens of thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire --caused by his misadventure in Iraq. Mayhap these steps will help mollify at least some Iraqis.

For, Zarqawi's death notwithstanding, the US and Brit governments are in serious trouble in Iraq. Look at what a supporter, Paddy Ashdown former leader of the Liberal Party and former High Representative of the UN to Bosnia-Herzegovina, of the so-called "war in Iraq" had to say in The Guardian of June 5: "Iraq is at a tipping point. We are not yet definitely losing the battle. But we are definitely not winning it either. For someone who argued that it was right to use force against Saddam Hussein, that is an uncomfortable thing to have to say. The election, at last, of Iraq's new government -- partly secular, partly religious -- offers us the last workable chance to turn things around. But one of my worries is that London and Washington are now so politically locked into withdrawal that they may be preparing to pull out too early.

"That would mean certain failure in Iraq. It would mean abandoning the country to become a lawless space used as both haven and facilitator for global terrorism, spreading instability to the fragile oil-rich states of the region. It would mean further disruption of an already fragile world oil market. It would mean, almost certainly, a breakaway state for Kurds in the north, which Turkey could not ignore. It would mean a vacuum of power in the heart of the Middle East, into which Iran and Syria must be drawn.

"It would mean a US bruised and damaged, which would be in danger of turning in on itself, recriminating with its friends and retreating from its willingness to intervene to resolve instability. It would mean floods of refugees heading for Europe and rising threats from instability in the Maghreb and to the east. Indeed, Europe probably has more to fear than anywhere else in the west from a failure in Iraq. So failure - cut and run -- is not an option. But neither is going on as we have done, for that is to risk failure by another route."

While there is an overpowering urge to ask Ashdown why in heavens name he supported the assault when so many, including the important countries of "Old Europe" were warning against it, I shall resist. And say that if failure is to be risked by cutting and running, then what other ways does the US government have of at least trying to retrieve the situation, or at least part of it, other than the ones suggested?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I am a senior citizen quite suddenly by order of the government of the Land of the Pure even though I thought I had another five years to go before the appellation is applied to me. Never fear I tell myself, at least try to get to the levels of machismo of our General who should be three years older than yourself. What do you mean 'senior citizen'? Another voice tells me it is no good trying -- for one, the adrenaline that courses through Musharraf's veins every time an obsequious flunkey gives him another 'sub acchha report' is missing in my life. To say nothing of electricity breakdowns; the ear-splitting, indeed mind-blowing cacophony produced by pressure horns right outside my house; the cost of utilities and daal and sugar and petrol and so much more that a man or woman on the street has to face in the Fatherland… and you have an aging senior citizen in me and a macho man in him. But let me be grateful for small mercies: Thank the Lord for my boys, both good sons who so look out for their old man, for the gift of little Zainab who so livens up my dotage, and for my wife who uncomplainingly soldiers on.

Bushism of the Week: "I'm a little worried about your country, I'm worried about it, I'm a little worried about it. I think it'll be okay" – President George W Bush, speaking to a Venezuelan woman in Omaha, Nebraska; June 6, 2006.