Omigod. Speaking of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) leader, Condi Rice told FOX News:

He was diabolically brilliant. I think he was an outstanding organizer, I think he had a kind of strategic sense, and I don’t think the follow-on leadership has been quite as good. So when you hear people say, “You know, well, if you kill one of them, they’ll just replace him with another leader,” remember that that’s like saying, you know, if you take out Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant, well, they’ll just replace them with another leader.

Condi compared one of the most evil terrorists in the world to two of our most sacred Generals?

Ah yes, someone loves the the smell of propaganda in the morning. Looks like a series of three strategically placed propaganda stories point towards good old-fashioned fear-mongering to boost Bush's all time low poll ratings in the latest Newsweek, CBS, and NBC/WSJ surveys just prior to Dear MisLeader's State of the Dis-Union speech. One of the suspected fake reports appears aimed at garnering support for the impending hostilities with Iran. The multi-pronged PSYOP also seems aimed at not only boosting said all-time low support, but perhaps also to lend credence to lies Bush may deliver in tonight's address... (more)

THE FIGHT FOR IRAQ  
Questions Mount Over Failure to Hit Zarqawi's Camp
By SCOT J. PALTROW
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 25, 2004

As the toll of mayhem inspired by terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi mounts in Iraq, some former officials and military officers increasingly wonder whether the Bush administration made a mistake months before the start of the war by stopping the military from attacking his camp in the northeastern part of that country.

The Pentagon drew up detailed plans in June 2002, giving the administration a series of options for a military strike on the camp Mr. Zarqawi was running then in remote northeastern Iraq, according to generals who were involved directly in planning the attack and several former White House staffers. They said the camp, near the town of Khurmal, was known to contain Mr. Zarqawi and his supporters as well as al Qaeda fighters, all of whom had fled from Afghanistan. Intelligence indicated the camp was training recruits and making poisons for attacks against the West.

We never know whether these announcements are true or not, but true or not this is a great opportunity for Democrats. We can now insist that we declare victory in Iraq and bring our troops home. From the Associated Press:

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in air raid Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq who led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and kidnappings, has been killed in an air strike, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday, adding that his identity was confirmed by fingerprints and a look at his face.