It won't be easy to replace Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the public face of the Iraqi insurgency. He instigated sectarian warfare, used the media masterfully and lured scores of volunteer suicide bombers.
No other Islamic militant operating in Iraq may be able to fill all those roles. Yet al-Zarqawi's death in a U.S. air raid Wednesday leaves a question that is likely to nag U.S. and Iraqi officials for weeks, or even months: Who is going to be Iraq's new Public Enemy No. 1?
U.S. commanders insist that a foreigner most likely would replace al-Zarqawi, who was Jordanian. But Arab analysts argue that his successor is going to be an Iraqi, to mend a rift between the foreign militants who form the backbone of al-Zarqawi's group -- al-Qaida in Iraq -- and the Iraqi Sunnis who make up other segments of the insurgency. |