Al-Qaeda dead?

The U.S. military has reported that an air-strike has killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. al-Zarqawi is the well recognized al-Qaeda leader in the Iraqi. The long-term effects of Zarqawi's death will only be known over time, but the U.S. and Iraqi officials are hoping to build on the momentum of the attack and named 3 military and security advisors to the Iraqi government.

This does beg the question, as the left is having a hard time refuting the value of today's events, what was Zarqawi's operation in Iraq if Iraq and al-Qaeda have no connection? James Taranto has a nice exposition on that very question. Much of the discussion on the validity of the U.S. led invasion of Iraq has centered on the connection of Iraq to al-Qaeda since WMD's have not been found. It is clear that the connection has existed for the last 10 years and the argument is merely rhetorical (with the exception of the hard core lefties who actually believe Saddam was an elected leader). With Zarqawi out of the picture, al-Qaeda loses one of its top lieutenants. He was clearly not an effective ground man (as demonstrated by his inability to handle his weapon) but his role in planning and financing attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces will be difficult to replace. The prime minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki said it best, "whenever there is a new al-Zarqawi, we will kill him."