Fighting Zarqawi's Legacy; He was a monster, and now he's dead. But his savage influence will outlive him. A look at the battles ahead.(Mussab al-Zarqawi)(Cover story)

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 19-JUN-06

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Byline: Rod Nordland and Michael Hirsh (With Mark Hosenball in Toronto, Sarah Childress and Salih Mehdi in Baghdad, Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai in Kabul and Emily Vencat in London)

From the president on down, U.S. officials are trying hard to suppress their excitement. But Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador in Iraq, can't help it: he sees a "big opportunity" in the death of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. Why? Because Khalilzad knows that jihadists around the world may not encounter Zarqawi's like again soon, no matter who replaces him. So monstrous a man was Zarqawi--so singularly savage in his methods--that he inspired almost as much fear among his Sunni confederates as he did in his victims. A terrorist among terrorists, he was always the scariest guy in the room, frightening his Sunni hosts into silence or cooperation with his unique combination of cruelty and competence: cross Zarqawi and you would die, along with your family, perhaps horribly. As recently as the last couple of months, Zarqawi's group orchestrated the assassination of 11 Sunni tribal chiefs around Ramadi, all killed for merely talking to the new Iraqi government, according to Israeli historian Amatzia Baram.

So the U.S. ambassador's implicit message to Iraq's Sunni insurgents and sympathizers is this: it's safe to come out now, and maybe even act civil-ly toward your fellow Iraqis among the Shiites. "Ding dong, the witch is dead," as one administration official, speaking anonymously because he is not authorized to talk to the media, jokingly described the mood. Inan interview with NEWSWEEK, Khalilzad went further than he has before in suggesting that the U.S. administration and new Iraqi government are willing to...

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