Slate's Eric Umansky asks, if the US may be mythologizing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to the point of building him up and giving him credit for attacks beyond his actual control.

Indeed, Zarqawi may be only a figurehead around whom Iraqi fighters are rallying, not someone directing operations there. "Most are not members of his group in a formal sense," one insurgent told Time. "But everyone, especially the foreigners in Iraq who share his ideals of jihad, considers himself part of Attawhid"...

The Bush administration has an obvious motivation to place an Osama-connected outsider at the center of the attacks. And it's possible that this analysis is correct. But one has to wonder: Even if Zarqawi is playing a key role in the Iraqi insurgency, is it wise for the United States to keep giving him credit for it?

Posted by Laura at June 30, 2004 06:58 PM