Bulletin: Zarqawi's Death Could Hurt the Bad Guys

On A1 today, Craig Whitlock in Death Could Shake Al-Qaeda In Iraq and Around the World does what Ellen Knickmeyer, Thomas E. Ricks, Josh White, Ann Scott Tyson and Barton Gellman collectively did not. He finds a group of credible experts who--sit down for this--consider possible benefits to the death of Abu Masab al-Zarqawi.

Whitlock:

The death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi could mark a turning point for al-Qaeda and the global jihadist movement, according to terrorism analysts and intelligence officials....

Guido Steinberg, an expert on Islamic radicalism at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, said other groups of foreign fighters that kept a loose alliance with Zarqawi, such as Ansar al-Sunna, might turn away from al-Qaeda in Iraq now that he is gone.

"It's a great loss for the these jihadi networks," said Steinberg, who served as a counterterrorism adviser to Gerhard Schroeder when he was chancellor of Germany. "I don't think there is any person in Iraq able to control this network the way Zarqawi did. It's very decentralized. He was the only person in Iraq who could provide the glue....

For recruitment efforts, the importance of Zarqawi's death "cannot be overestimated," Germany's foreign intelligence chief, Ernst Uhrlau, told the Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.

This is no cheerleading piece. There's plenty of commentary about the growing influence of other foreign jihadists, and how al Qaeda will benefit by losing a loose cannon. In other words, it's an example of responsible reporting, writing and editing. Too bad it ran on a Saturday, the least-read day for newspapers--and probably blogs.