al Zarqawi dead but insurgency remains

with reports of al Zarqawi Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq being killed by a airstrike it begs the question of what does this do for the insurgency?

More than likely it won't make that much of a difference. It will probably result in some confusion in Al Qaeda in Iraq's operations for awhile but the insurgency will keep going. For the most part it is after all homegrown and the involvement of al-Qaida is not intrinsic to its success in its operations against the Americans and the Iraqi government.

This will also be an opportunity for local al-Qaida commanders to make a name for themselves.

Unlike in most classic terrorist organizations the diffuse chain of command means that al-Qaida in Iraq will still be able to function against the counterinsurgency.


war on terror
Iraq
al Zarqawi
Al Qaeda
insurgency
counterinsurgency