Good riddance

Not that death is really ever a good thing, but the elimination of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is welcome news in the seemingly consistently frustrating battle against Iraqi insurgents.

Al-Zarqawi was, more or less, a bastard. The fact he's not around anymore means he won't get the opportunity to personally concoct some cruel attacks on either U.S. forces, innocent Iraqi civilians or foreign aid workers and journalists.

Still, while it's good he's gone, it's also a far cry to see this singular act moves the U.S. closer to adequately securing that country. Al-Zarqawi was the lader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and terrorist operations don't exactly function with one supreme leader overseeing all of their actions. Typically, they operate out of numerous independent cells, many of whom never interact with each other, meaning the death of al-Zarqawi, no matter how welcome, may factor very little in the long battle against terrorism.

Plus, the death of al-Zarqawi will do little but stoke the fires of those most fervent Iraqi insurgents. Already, in the wake of his death, al-Qaeda vowed to continue its 'holy war' and car bombings killed 19 in Baghdad.