i mentioned below that i thought bush's statement about the death of zarqawi seemed to lack the bravado of some of his previous speeches.
it later occurred to me that zarqawi's death has completely overshadowed the announcement that iraqis managed to fill the remaining posts in their government. if zarqawi had not been killed, that's what bush would have been crowing about today. and while bush's statement mentioned the appointments, the killing of zarqawi paradoxically forced him to end on a lower note, reminding the nation that the violence in iraq would continue even though the person he had helped build up as the face of the insurgency was gone.
many people are seeing the zarqawi news as good news for bush. but oddly, he might have had an easier time talking up the progress this morning if the strike on the leader of al-qaeda in iraq had missed.
