Glad Zarqawi's Gone? Yes or No

[oasis]

This is NOT a DU poll which will allow voters to hide. Bottom line, I want to prove that a large percentage of DUers are glad Zarqawi is no longer on the planet.

DUers who are glad Zarqawi's gone please indicate by a simple "yes". The "unglad" indicate with a "no".

Please,for the purpose of this experiment, no opinions, just vote yes or no.

[oasis]

1. yes

[file83]

72. You are wrong.

The answer can not be a "yes" or a "no" because neither answer means anything. I know in your mind it means something, but to anyone that thinks about it for more than a knee jerk split second, you realize that the question is completely pointless.

"Yes, I'm glad" means you are glad we started this war and killed so many people in the bloody pursuit of Osama, Saddam, Zarqawi, (whomever is next).

"No, I'm not glad" seems to mean one is rooting for the official enemy, but does it really mean that? Or does it simply mean that your not glad we are involved in this illegal war in the first place, and they have no other option to say that other than "No."?

Who friggin' knows, because the question is so stupid to begin with.

[file83]

77. And just to prove that you are wrong, I did this for you:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1386022

Wow, according to your definitions, the DU is full of "tinfoilhats".

It really just depends on how you ask the question and how you define the answers, don't it?

[KyuzoGator]

2. Yes, but disgusted that we used an airstrike to kill one man. nt

[Caution]

3. yes

[Pirate Smile]

4. yes

[OKNancy]

5. Yes

of course

[NYCGirl]

6. Yes.

[chelsea0011]

7. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

[sandnsea]

8. Yes

[pointblank]

9. yes.

[atreides1]

10. Yes

Glad that he's out of action, but not glad about his death.

[peacebird]

11. No. We knew where he was, we should have taken him into custody

and hauled him before the court.

We used to be a nation based on LAW, now we are the wild west and killing for expediency rahter than worrying about the mess of prosecution...

on edit: I also do not know how much to believe about him. I no longer trust anything put out by the US govt....

[BurtWorm]

14. Well said.

Good answer.

:toast:

[deaniac21]

17. Here you go

http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

[bluestateguy]

23. I don't care for AJ either

nt.

[peacebird]

26. Thanks - definitely he should have been brought to justice - in a COURT

of LAW.

[deaniac21]

36. ?

[peacebird]

53. his group claimed credit for the hotel bombings

The killing of innocent people. He should have been tried for that and anything else he could be tried on.

I still feel the best path is through the court system, not through execution.

[az chela]

31. No,I agree with you that we cant trust any one from our governmnent

As for his death will it bring back our over 2000 troops that were killed and all the ones who came home missing arms and legs???I thought this war was over 9/11.Guess I am wrong.We went to Iraq Al/zarkawi didnt come here

[Ms. Toad]

59. Especially since an NPR report I heard

indicated that we put him in power. It was apparently Colin Powell's statement to the UN (linking Saddam Husein to Al Qaeda through Zarqawi) that blasted Zarqawi from the leader of a very small group into the key leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and #2 in Al Qaeda in the world).

[Gabi Hayes]

76. yep....seen this?

we could've killed/captured him four years ago

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1382320

[SemiCharmedQuark]

60. I agree.

Fuck the Freepers, I don't give a shit if they don't approve of my answer.

Whatever happened to "beacon on a hill"?

[ComerPerro]

74. Actually, a RW caller on a RW radio show (is there any other kind)

said today that its better to just kill these people so we don't have to bother with a trial. He continued that we should have just killed Saddam and Mussaoui (sp).

Can't wait till that caller is accused of a crime. Then we know we can just kill him, so we won't have to have a trial.

[originalpckelly]

12. yes

very glad that son of a gun is pushing up daisies.

[bluestateguy]

13. If he really is dead, yes. But I am not ready to believe the story.

nt

[darkism]

15. Not really, because any killing is barbaric.

I suppose I'm glad that we got him SOME way. I'm NOT glad that we had to kill him. Since it's already said and done, though, I suppose it doesn't exactly hurt Iraqi society.

Still, we had the ability to take him alive and should have done so. We could've learned a lot more that way, as long as we didn't torture him because that would be wrong too.

[alfredo]

16. Yes, but still have questions about the official story.

[cali]

18. yes.

If he was responsible for but a fraction of the death and mayhem attributed to him, it's better that he's no longer around.

[cali]

19. dupe

[Armstead]

20. Yes -- Details in this thread linked below

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1381303&mesg_id=1381303

[az chela]

21. No,this will not bring bck any of our fallen troops!!!!!!!

[rinsd]

22. Yes

[karlrschneider]

24. I guess I'll abstain because it doesn't matter to me either way.

Nothing substantial will change.

[oasis]

41. The purpose of this exercise is to get a more accurate indicator of where

DU stands on Zarqawi's demise. We're getting visitors to this website who are posting claims contrary to the results we're getting so far.

[DemonFighterLives]

109. I was looking for the indifferent option as well

Like Uday and Qsay, who could have been gassed and captured.
There is no joy in more death and mayhem.
:dem:

[longship]

25. Totally irrelevant.

Like every single other event during the past five-plus years, this event will have precisely zero effect on what the neocons do. It may change what they say, but within the influence of their rather unique reality distortion field, their plan will not change. It was predetermined long ago. No mere historical event, no matter what its significance, is going to steer them away.

That's what's so damned scary about them. It's also their greatest weakness. So why hasn't anybody figured out a way to exploit that weakness?

[file83]

64. Exactly. This isn't a "zero-sum" game.

...this is a never ending insurgency. It doesn't matter if they catch Osama either. This war is of the people, for the people, by the people of Iraq against the U.S.A. Every leader is replaceable, and there is a never ending line of them waiting to lead (what they feel is) their patriotic war against us.

[Zynx]

27. Yes. I would have prefered taking him alive so we could humiliate him

, but this is almost as good.

[opihimoimoi]

28. I'm glad he is gone but no BEHEADING? Damn....

Shoulda, woulda, coulda....but nevah...double Damn...

[Nimrod2005]

29. Si...

[texastoast]

30. Yes, but it won't make any difference

Osama said it best: "I don't care if they kill me. Then a thousand just like me will rise."

And he's right. It will be a power struggle to see who gets the top seat of that faction. It will distract that element of Al-Qaida for a while, then business as usual.

[unschooler]

32. Glad he's gone, but

a trial would have been a lot more effective.

[xchrom]

33. two five hundred pound bombs to get one guy after how many years?

kind of like celebrating u.s. incompetence isn't it?

there was an inevitability to it -- but the end and how long it took plus nineteen iraqi and three troops died make an interesting commentary on zarqawi's death doesn't it?

[Imalittleteapot]

34. Yes.

[kymar57]

35. yes eom

[MikeNearMcChord]

37. Not crying any tears for him, but just like when

they killed Pablo Escobar, will it change anything?

[Sammy Pepys]

38. yes...n/t

..

[warrens]

39. A big YES

He was not an insurgent. He was a butcher.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

40. Yes. However, I do not take joy in his death. eom

[applegrove]

42. Yes. It will save lives of civilians and likely a few jihadists will not

have to blow themselves up. Families in Iraq have to choose who to support according to who controls the guns in their part of the city. That is a crime. Especially since Rummy fired the whole army leaving the whole place to gun runners (borders not locked down) and people like Z.

[stray cat]

43. Absolutely yes!

I also hope it makes the situation better in Iraq although I don't think it will.

[LoZoccolo]

44. Of course, but I wonder...

...if we could have gotten anything out of him about the rest of the network interrogating him, even indirectly. Probably a very very slim chance, and he could lie like crazy though. But yes.

[lpbk2713]

45. Yes in the context that perhaps the "coalition" will now lighten up.

Maybe there might be fewer casualties all the way around now.

[demosincebirth]

46. YES!!

[tlsmith1963]

47. Makes No Difference

If Bush thinks this will help his approval rating, it won't with me. Too much has happened. Even if they suddenly killed bin Laden it would make no difference. Bush has proven over & over again that he's a fascist. It's too late for him.

Tammy

[DireStrike]

48. Yes... a little.

He was an ass. Whose ass? Doesn't really matter.

Doesn't really make a difference though.

[SoCalDem]

49. Frankly, it does not matter.

It's not like he was the only person there with ideas. If anything, his death will make him a martyr in a culture that reveres martrydom more than anything else..


It will give a momentary pat on the back to our military who probably needed some "good news" after the recent news about them and what's been happening, but after a few days, it will be business as usual.

Of course the mouth-breathing, blood-thirsty right wingers will consider this as a springboard to a midterm victory, and we will see this coverage trotted out daily, with generous doses of "Hooray for our side"..

We elevated Zarqawi to mythic levels, and now we have killed him.. Better to have killed him quietly and said nothing.

[Raine]

50. Yes but

I don't feel any safer and whatever happened to Bin 'forgotten' and bringing him in dead or alive. :-(

[Hell Hath No Fury]

51. How about indifferent?

If I thought his death was going to do a damn bit of good over in Iraq, I'd be dancing for joy. But it's impact will be minimal. :shrug:

[progressivebydesign]

52. Yes.... but it's not that straightforward...

Well.. almost. I do wish they had captured him, instead of killed, because it's too easy to make him a martyr by killing him. I'd rather see him brought to justice in a less spectacular fashion. Showing photos of his dead body today, as with the bodies of Saddam's sons, makes me cringe because it's so much like what the insurgents have been doing to us... and the world has recoiled in horror because of it.

If the choice of having him loose instead of killed, I'd choose killed... but I fear that his death like this will only fuel the hatred of us more and the insurgency against our troops. In a country, like the US, that does not deal in martyrdom, it's easy to believe that having him dead will somehow improve things, but in the radical fundamentalist circles over in the Middle East, death is an honor and a reason for them to fight harder in his memory.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

54. No.

Give me a good reason why I should be glad.

[951-Riverside]

55. Yes. (See my opinion below)

We havent found WMD's, we've captured Saddam, we're killed his sons and now we've killed this guy... so why are we still there?

[Pastiche423]

56. No

Why should I be?

[w4rma]

57. Yes. (nt)

[countryjake]

58. This reminds me of all the "Rah Rah" when Che was murdered...

complete with photos of the corpse.

No would be my answer since morbidity is not my game. I never even knew the guy.

[Ms. Toad]

61. No.

I don't condone killing, period. This was done in my name, with my money, which makes me complicit in something I find morally repugnant.

[Name removed]

62. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[The Stranger]

129. Was this post deleted criticizing this thread-rally created to celebrate

the propaganda issued yesterday?

[tammywammy]

63. Yes

[Name removed]

65. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[arwalden]

66. No. (Death is not punishment.)

You have to actually be ALIVE to appreciate the fact that you're being punished. Once you're dead, you no longer care... you're dead!

[devilgrrl]

67. Does it matter?

There, how's that for an answer?

[AnOhioan]

68. After thinking it over...my answer, No

Was he a thug? Yes

Did he commit murder? Yes

Will his death change anything? No

Should he have been caught, tried, and sentenced to life? Yes

Will the level of violence abate with his passing? No

Was he worth the 2500 dead US soldiers? No

Will the Neo-cons elevate another punk to "Boogeyman" status? As soon as they can

Will this crap ever end? Not as long as the fascists remain in power.

[slackmaster]

69. Yes

He was a dick.

[yurbud]

70. YES but may be moot (see BATTLE OF ALGIERS)

[Balbus]

71. yes

[MrScorpio]

73. Sure I am

It's always good to clean up our own messes

[ShaneGR]

75. Aye

I don't think it will matter in the war, but I'm glad he's dead.

[devilgrrl]

78. I heard they found WMD's in his sphincter...

now I really feel safe! After all, that's why we're there! :sarcasm:

[oasis]

90. self-delete

[tigersumtin]

79. yes

[PWRinNY]

80. Yes

[NJ Democrats]

81. Yes I am!

Not that it will make a difference.

[Strathos]

82. Glad he might be gone, not rejoicing in someone's death

That's just the way I feel.

[LuckyTheDog]

83. YES

I am glad he is dead.

[Ariana Celeste]

84. No opinions? You realize this isn't a black and white situation, right?

I am never happy when somebody dies.

I don't care HOW "evil", or bad, or what a criminal, this guy was. I'm not going to cheer his death, when what we should have done, was get him ALIVE and put him on trial.

And I don't give a shit what right wingers think of my opinion, considering they are the bomb-them-all-and-let-God-sort-them-out types.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

85. Neither yes or no. The consequences are yet to be seen.

His followers may retaliate by killing more people than he would have managed if he lived.

Or, because of his death, the Sunnis may be weakened to the point that they are seen as easy victims for Shi'a, and suffer even more deaths.

I have no sympathy for killers no matter what "virtuous" cause they trumpet.

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy.” - Gandhi

[Halliburton]

86. yes

he was an evil man who executed innocent hostages and bombed innocent civilians.

[file83]

87. So, by those measures, would you like to see President Bush die?

He's responsible for the death of innocent hostages (detainees) in secret prisons the world over and ordered the bombing of Iraq that has lead to the deaths of innocent civilians.

President Bush and Al-Zarqawi, maybe not so different afterall? I mean, according to your requirements of people that deserve death.

Or don't you think an arrest and trial would be more appropriate?

[Swamp Rat]

88. Glad??? HELL NO!!! Bushler&Co. royally fucked up again, just for good PR

We should have CAPTURED him to get INFORMATION then publicly TRIED him for all of his crimes so the VICTIMS could have a chance to face him and scream bloody murder at him.

Also, how many children were killed by the two 500 lb. bombs? More 'collateral damage' just so Bushler could get a bump in the polls?

:puke:

[cigsandcoffee]

89. Sure. Bad fellow.

[DesertRat]

91. Yes!

[Marie26]

92. Yes! nt

[Lerkfish]

93. yes

[AnnieBW]

94. HELL YEAH!

If it gets our troops home faster, it's all good.

[Penndems]

95. Without a doubt, yes

n/t

[Cleita]

96. No. I'm not an advocate of killing the enemy like we have been

doing. It makes us sink down to a very low denominator. This isn't going to change the trouble our government has gotten us into. They kill. We kill. They kill back. We kill back.

I guess it helps the population problem. :puke:

[Bretttido]

97. No

Revenge begets revenge

[DemonFighterLives]

112. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[otohara]

98. Absolutely - Now Bush Needs to Go

2 more years - will we survive, will the world?

[childslibrarian]

99. yes

[musical_soul]

100. Yes.

[Clarkie1]

101. YES

[McCamy Taylor]

102. No. Murder is never the answer to any problem. I'm a Buddhist.

[MissWaverly]

103. No, not as a martyr, how many followers will rise up

how many more suicide bombers, IED planters, why wasn't he arrested; so that he could have
provided information on his network, why they have been torturing innocents for 4 years for
what was in this man's head.

[ArnoldLayne]

104. Yes, but I don't think it will make any difference as far as stopping

the violence.

[lynne]

105. Yes - Most Certainly

[Cocoa]

106. yes

[mvd]

107. If I have to pick, I'll say yes

He's a terrorist. But as I said on another thread, there will only be more Al-Zarqawis. If Bush didn't foolishly invade Iraq, it might be more meaningful.

[DeepModem Mom]

108. YES

[Beacho]

110. Don't care

The horrors to come will show what a crumb bum big nothing this guy was, and that somebody has already taken his place.

Would rather have had him caught alive, instead of turning him into a martyr

[aikoaiko]

111. yes, hell yes.

[woo me with science]

113. yes, of course nt

[mhatrw]

114. Of fucking course. Ding, dong, the boogeyman is dead!!!

Zarqawi was BushCo's best imaginary friend.

[Rowdyboy]

115. Idiotic question that demeans us.....The assholes who aren't are largely

trolls.

[oasis]

117. You're free to move along and not answer. thank you.

:hi:

[Rowdyboy]

118. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been rude. But is there really any question?

I don't understand much justification for defending the man.

I do apologize for being rude. I try not to do that, but anonymity and alcohol tend to lower my inhibitions.

[oasis]

119. An overwhelming amount of posters on this thread said "yes". That's

what I was shooting for. I was confident the vote would go the way it did.

Apology accepted. :pals:

[Occulus]

116. No, because now they can invoke his name at will.

Not good for the truth, from a purely propagandistic standpoint.

[bunkerbuster1]

120. I. don't. care.

It's utterly insignificant, and the jizz-fest that's accompanied this news is disgusting.

[magellan]

121. Yes

[killbotfactory]

122. I would have preferred him gone 3 years ago

But Bush just had to have his fucking war.

[eridani]

123. Your question is based on an unsubstantiated hypothesis

Namely that on the day he was said to have been killed, he was alive in the first place.

Putting that aside, if it really was him, yes I'm glad he's gone.

[B Calm]

124. Wouldn't it had been more fun to capture him alive and forced him

to pose nude??

[Name removed]

125. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bamboose]

126. yes

[Adelante]

127. Yes

[Common Sense Party]

128. Hell, yes. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Yes, the guy was real. Yes, he was an evil monster, and yes, I'm not shedding any tears for him. He won't be blowing up and murdering any more of our troops nor any of his fellow Muslims.

Will someone else come along and take his place? Probably. Will they be as effective. Unknown, but doubtful.

[Orsino]

130. It's not a simple question...

...so I suspect you won't get a realistic sampling. I hope you don't.

I can be glad that Zarqawi won't be doing any more killing, but I can be sorry that he wasn't captured and tried. I can be sorry that the US killed with less than surgical precision, and fearful that some of those killed in the bombing weren't our enemies.

I can be sorry about the simplistic questions being put to us which imply that this particular military solution was the best possibility for peace.

[DeaconBlues]

131. yes

but after watching that Glenn Beck idiot on CNN gloating over the assasination, I wish we could also drop a 500 lb. bomb on his home.

[bigdarryl]

132. Zarqawi

What kind of question is that, of coarse were glad he's dead.

[oasis]

137. I'll count that as a "yes".

[rman]

133. irrelevant

I know that's not either of the two answers you are asking for, but i don't like to have my answers framed for me.

[4_TN_TITANS]

134. Neither......

I don't think it will have any affect on the fighting. In fact, it's proof of how bad the local infighting has become - for one side to sell off the leader of another.

[mvd]

136. It won't improve civil strife in Iraq

Also, Al Qaeda shouldn't even BE in Iraq like they are now.

[Xenotime]

135. No.

It was a murder and a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars.

[Perky]

138. Yes

[Quantess]

139. sure, fine, whatever. Can we bring the troops home now? n/t

[Initech]

140. Personally, I think they should have caught him alive.

Why? Because he could have led us to the man who we REALLY want to see dead - Osama bin Laden.

[Zhade]

141. How could I possibly answer when I don't know if this is even true?

This is like the sixth time he's 'died'?

Did he have two legs this time?

[IdaBriggs]

142. No. As an al-Quaida "leader" he could have provided much useful intel.

Killing him a) without a trial, and b) before interrogating him for useful information would have been far more satisfying.

What names would he have named? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Cuthbert J Twillie]

143. Glad Zarqawi's Gone? Yes or No

Yes