Pentagon prepares Zarqawi successor

Jultra

“BAGHDAD — The U.S. military today released new information about Abu Musab Zarqawi’s successor, quickly elevating the stature of the Egyptian militant who is said in Internet postings to be the new head of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The U.S. military also announced today that the number of American military deaths in Iraq has reached 2,500, though the 24 killed so far this month has been relatively low […]

At a press briefing in the Iraqi capital, the U.S. military showed reporters a previously classified picture of the Egyptian-born militant man who goes by the name Abu Ayyub Masri or Sheik Abu Hamza Muhajer, wearing traditional Arab headdress.

“It’s important for the people of Iraq to know who this is,” said Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, spokesman for U.S.-led forces in Iraq. Caldwell said U.S. officials debated for days before deciding to release the photo and a brief biographical sketch of the alleged insurgent leader. They worried that bolstering his media profile would play into his hands. “Our intention is not to glorify him,” Caldwell said” LA Times

Let’s rewind a litte bit to 17/4/06:

“In more than 3 years of war, there has never been a positive citing of alleged terror mastermind Abu Musab al Zarqawi. This has led many to believe that he is merely a creation of Pentagon propagandists working with their agents in the western press. Colonel Derek Harvey strengthened those suspicions last week when he admitted in a Washington Post article that the military intentionally “enlarged Zarqawi’s caricature” to create the impression that the ongoing struggle against occupation was really a fight against terrorism. But, that is not the case. As Harvey notes, “The long term threat is not Zarqawi or religious extremists, but former regime types and their friends” ICH

La Times continues:

“But by making Masri or Muhajer, whose two names mean “Egyptian” and “immigrant” in Arabic, the U.S. continues painting Iraq’s Sunni Arab rebellion as driven by outsiders, even though foreign fighters make up a small portion of guerrillas fighting Americans and the Iraqi government”