Big Fish

The Iraqis catch al Queda in Iraq's number two -- and twenty men with him.

Something important to note here: it is believed this man is responsible for the attack on the mosque in Samarra which I think most people agree really kicked off the sectarian blood-letting. This matters because there was (and as far as I know, is) agreement that this was a terrorist plot intended specifically to produce sectarian fighting.

Now, you can say that it just doesn't matter at this point, that however we got here, we're here.

I disagree. This fighting resulted from a calculated strategy designed to spark-off a sectarian civil war, and the fact that it has been wildly successful in sparking off such fighting, to the point that many are deeply concerned about the risk of all-out civil war, does not make the origin of the fighting any less important. This has been their goal for quite some time. Knowing that this is happening by design, does, I think, provide very important contextualizing information: it did not "just happen," it is not the case that left to their own devices these communities were unable to live together, they were actively provoked into the cycle of violence that now holds sway.

It also matters because catching someone that high-up, with his boys, would have meant an intelligence bonanza. Notice that no public announcement was made for several days: presumably that was to permit American and Iraqi forces to do everything possible to exploit any intelligence gained when the men were captured. They might never say a word, but doubtless with them came at least their cell phones, if not a computer or two.

Comments

[Ron Hardin]

How something starts is the same as, rhetorically, what it is. Called temporizing the essence.

So there's a resource.