Death of Zarqawi Important to War On Terror

Ken McCracken has posted a round up of left-wing blogger reactions to the death of Zarqawi. In the spirit of “fair and balanced reporting”, I’ve decided to post what experts in the field have to say. Death Could Shake Al-Qaeda In Iraq and Around the World

The death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi could mark a turning point for al-Qaeda and the global jihadist movement, according to terrorism analysts and intelligence officials.
Until he was killed Wednesday by U.S. forces, the Jordanian-born guerrilla served as Osama bin Laden’s proxy in Iraq, attracting hundreds if not thousands of foreign fighters under the al-Qaeda banner. At the same time, Zarqawi had grown into a strategic headache for al-Qaeda’s founders by demonstrating an independent streak often at odds with their goals.

Here’s more on the importance of Zarqawi to al Qaeda:

Zarqawi gave a boost to the al-Qaeda network by giving it a highly visible presence in Iraq at a time when its original leaders went into hiding or were killed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. He established al-Qaeda’s first military beachhead and training camps outside Afghanistan.

This is one place, I believe, that the antiwar people have right. By invading Iraqi, we did increase the prominence of al Qaeda. And of course, it vaulted al Zarqawi to superstar status within the jihad world. (Countdown commences before favorable comparisons between Zarqawi and Che Guevara appear.)
That said, I should point out that prior to the invasion, Zarqawi was intent on running his own terror network independent to al Qaeda. The invasion and the emergency measures taken by Zarqawi led to the merger of his network with al Qaeada.
Saddam was not only harboring terrorists, he also
funded terrorists and planned large scale terrorist attacks of his own, not only on Israel, but on the western nations. This is demonstrated by his own words as well as by by documents such as the Blessed July documents. I may get a chance to post more on this in the future.
Regarding as to the impact of Zarqawi’s death,

He was also a master media strategist, using the Internet to post videotaped beheadings of hostages and assert responsibility for some of Iraq’s deadliest suicide attacks, usually in the name of al-Qaeda. [...]
“It’s a great loss for the these jihadi networks,” said Steinberg, who served as a counterterrorism adviser to Gerhard Schroeder when he was chancellor of Germany. “I don’t think there is any person in Iraq able to control this network the way Zarqawi did. It’s very decentralized. He was the only person in Iraq who could provide the glue.
“By losing Zarqawi, they run the danger of losing Iraq as a battlefield to the nationalist insurgents and others who aren’t interested in bin Laden or the global jihad.”

(h/t CaptainsQuarters)