DO NOT PASS PARADISE, DO NOT COLLECT 72 VIRGINS, JUST GO AWAY

The alleged 'mastermind' of several orchestrated attacks across Iraq (and possibly elsewhere) is injured.

Giving people like this the title of 'mastermind' is a misnomer. If morons like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold could incite the same type of terror, then they should also be considered 'masterminds' right? Wrong. Terrorists, domestic or otherwise, should not be given the amount of prestige and attention that they are as it does nothing for an effective solution to the problem and promotes that type of behavior.

While I feel that people such as bin Laden and al-Zarqawi held previous injuries of the psychological sort, it is now felt that al-Zarqawi could have been injured in 'battle'. The message of the website containing the news feels that Muslims should pray for his recovery. What I find ridiculous about the claim is that the website (which is a clearinghouse for garbage) would have you believe that Muslims in general support the insurgency. They clearly do not. In fact, you now have one of the most reactionary and voiced clerics of the Iraq war (al-Sadr) seeking a political role instead of a militant one. My guess is that many more reactionary types will follow suit. The insurgency, as it turns out, is a minority. The people want democracy, and now have access to it. They are not going to let some paltry band of thieves and murderers be their voice, and have made that clear in many instances.

al-Sadr is the young, brash individual who would have you believe (partially through our own media) that he was the spokesperson of not only the entire insurgency, but of an entire nation and religion. Clearly a mistake.

The insurgency in this case, is comprised of not only Iraqis, but other individuals who have answered the call of jihad and associated fatwa's. They would like to consider themselves radicals and freedom fighters. This is not the case. To be a freedom fighter, I think that you would have to be fighting for freedom and not opposing its progress. The people of Iraq are just now feeling the effects of freedom and democracy and crave more, so the insurgency does not hold water. They are clearly extremists and misguided fools, nothing more. The most radical thing going on in Iraq right now is not the insurgency, but democracy itself. Again, the insurgency does not hold water.

It is easier said than done of course, for me to say this. The insurgents obviously believe in their cause very deeply...but it is a futile one in the end. It is just a shame that the liberated people of Iraq must feel the effects of the select few 'spokesmen' of the minority. I am pretty sure that God does indeed have a plan for bin Laden, al-Zarqawi, al-Sadr and their like-minded cronies; I would venture to say, however, that the plan contains nothing about paradise or any virgins. Fools.

I laud the United States military and the associated intelligence communities for what they have accomplished so far. Keep up the good fight.

Minus