Zarqawi was definitely a terrorist, because he was using violence on civilians for political purposes, not because the the Bush administration says so. But removing him doesn't change Iraq much.
The reality that Bush administration has created is much influenced by Hollywood, despite the administration's well-known disapproval of the film industry and its liberal politics.
Zarqawi was no one before the Amercian government and its media made him a villain. He himself even believed it and showed it in his recent video. He looked like a Muslim Rambo, even though military experts later realised he couldn't properly hold those sophisticated weapons.
But unlike movies that end with the death of the villain or the hero -- or both -- Al-Qaida, in reality, is not what the U.S. has illustrated. It's a decentralised movement based on a simplistic notion of the whole West against the Muslims. It doesn't necessarily have a hierarchical and command system. They plan, organize, fund and operate on their own, according to that grand notion that Al-Qaida identifies with.
Al Qaida is not a company so by removing its CEO or deputies or regional officers, you could destroy it.
Zarqawi is dead now, but as long as the Americans are in Iraq and by their presence, legitimizing the philosophy of Al Qaida, there'll be many more like him. But only a few are lucky enough to be picked by the Americans to become the next symbolic villain.
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