US Features
Bush cautiously optimistic about al-Zarqawi\'s death
By Mike McCarthy
Jun 8, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Washington - US President George W Bush described the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a \'severe blow\' to al-Qaeda\'s effort in Iraq but was careful to remind Americans that the Jordanian\'s demise will not bring a quick end to the conflict.

\'Zarqawi is dead, but the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq continues,\' Bush said. \'We can expect the terrorists and insurgents to carry on without him.\'

Al-Zarqawi, whose organization has been responsible for the bloodiest attacks against Iraqi civilians and US forces, was the American military\'s top target in Iraq. There was a 25-million-dollar reward on his head.

Bush began receiving indications that al-Zarqawi might have been killed by a F-16 airstrike near the city of Baquba late Wednesday afternoon, telling advisors \'that would be a good thing,\' White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

The depiction of al-Zarqawi\'s attacks on television helped contribute to weakened public support for the war and Bush\'s dwindling job-approval ratings. While Bush said al-Zarqawi\'s death gave reason for optimism, he did not express the gleeful sentiment that characterized the days following the defeat of Saddam Hussein\'s regime.

\'We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continued patience of the American people,\' Bush said. \'Yet the developments of the last 24 hours give us renewed confidence in the final outcome of this struggle.\'

Nevertheless, the end of al-Zarqawi coupled with formation of an Iraqi governing cabinet this week was the first good news for the embattled Bush administration in months, and could aid the president in his public relations campaign aimed at persuading Americans that the mission in Iraq is essential to US security.

Snow warned that with the death of al-Zarqawi the insurgents will be eager to show they are still effective.

\'You can anticipate, and I think we\'ve seen already, that some of the first reaction is going to be for terrorist and insurgent forces to try to demonstrate that they haven\'t been weakened by committing acts of violence,\' Snow said.

Al-Zarqawi\'s death quickly led to questions about who will succeed him in running al-Qaeda\'s operations in Iraq. Major General William Caldwell told reporters in Baghdad that the US military expects Egyptian-born Abu al-Masri will take al-Zarqawi\'s place.

Caldwell said the US military has been examining al-Masri for some time and believe he started the first al-Qaeda terrorist cells in Baghdad, has been involved in developing the strategy of using roadside bombs to attack US convoys and was originally trained in Afghanistan.

\'We\'ve been looking at him fairly closely for a while,\' Caldwell said.

\'He\'s not the kind of person that the government of Iraq, the Iraqi people themselves nor the coalition forces care to have existing in this country,\' he added.

In Brussels, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has faced calls to resign over the conflict in Iraq, said the death of al- Zarqawi will slow the insurgents but would not mean an end to violence.

\'Over the last several years no single person on this planet has had the blood of more innocent men, women and children on his hands than Zarqawi,\' he said.