DOWNHILL FOR AL QAEDA, A DOWNER FOR THE LEFT

At 6:15 p.m. local time on Wednesday June 7, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the al Qaeda chieftain in Iraq, was meeting in a nondescript house in Hibhib, a hamlet about five miles northeast of Baquba, with 8 of his top aides.

The meeting ended early.  Two 500 lb bombs dropped by U.S. Air Force F-16s  obliterated the house and killed all inside.

The fighter-bombers were guided there by members of Task Force 145, a team of special operators assembled for the explicit purpose of hunting down the al Qaeda leadership in Iraq.

TF 145 had been directed to the farmhouse by tips from Iraqi civilians, and by information from interrogations of two al Qaeda leaders captured in raids in May.  From a purely military standpoint, the loss of his lieutenants probably was a greater blow to al Qaeda than was the loss of Zarqawi himself.

Zarqawi had been targeting Shia civilians in an effort to provoke a civil war.  This was causing dissension with other insurgent groups, and within al Qaeda itself. (This dissension explains in part why captured al Qaeda leaders have been so talkative.)

Zarqawi also was straining the alliance of convenience between al Qaeda and the mullahs in Tehran, who have been supplying insurgents with sophisticated roadside bombs.  Sunni extremists and Shia extremists don't normally get along, but their shared enmity with the United States had caused them to work together.

Zarqawi was jeopardizing this tentative cooperation.  Earlier this month he described Hezbollah, the leading Iranian-backed terror group, as a "cover for Israel."  Mohammed Afif, a Hezbollah leader in Lebanon, when asked what he thought of Zarqawi's group.  "We hate them," Afif responded.  "They call us cockroaches and murder our people."

But if the loss of Zarqawi the man won't hurt al Qaeda all that much, the loss of Zarqawi the legend is devastating.

"As he committed atrocity after atrocity, seemingly with impunity, Zarqawi became a mythic figure in part of the world where mythology has vastly more cachet than reality," said former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy. 

Zarqawi's death is a huge psychological and political boost to the fledgling Iraqi government.  Iraqis danced in the streets.  Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki pushed through a parliament giddy at the news his choices for the critical ministries of defense and interior (which is in charge of the police), finally completing formation of his government.

Zarqawi's legendary brutality had made many Iraqis fearful of cooperating with their government.  Now that he is dead, what has been a stream of tips could become a river.

"This means that every foreign jihadist leader will be looking over his shoulder in the days to come…wondering if there is a traitor in his midst and his downfall is just around the corner," said former CIA officer Peter Brookes, now with the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C.

Zarqawi's death also sends a message to fence sitters among Iraq's Sunnis.  For those who wish to be on the winning side, it's clear now which side that is.

Though the political benefits are primary, let's not give short shrift to the military benefits.  No fighting organization can lose so much of its senior leadership without serious degradation of its performance and morale.  The terrorists killed Wednesday can be replaced, but neither quickly nor easily, and the replacements will lack the skill and experience of the deceased.

And things will get worse for al Qaeda.  Thanks to leads from "a treasure trove" of documents recovered from the rubble, Coalition forces launched 17 raids in greater Baghdad Thursday.

News of the demise of the murderous thug was greeted sourly on the left-liberal blogs Democratic Underground and Daily Kos, where posters feared Zarqawi's death would boost support for President Bush and the Iraq war.

Much of the news media also viewed Zarqawi's death chiefly through the prism of domestic politics.  White House Press Secretary Tony Snow clearly was irritated when a reporter asked him Thursday: "Will the Zarqawi success help the president on immigration?"

The capture of Saddam Hussein didn't end the insurgency in Iraq.  Killing Zarqawi won't either.  But to those who think winning the war on terror is more important than embarrassing the president, it's a big step forward.