The Face of Abu Mussad al-Zarqawi; or, Martyrs Recruit

For some not to become martyrs is martyrdom indeed.
Leo Rosten

The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.
Soren Kierkegaard

It’s déjà vu all over again.
Yogi Berra


Seeing the blown-up photograph of Abu Mussad al-Zarqawi in death—with Maj. General William Caldwell announcing the elimination of Al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq—took me back to when I was thirteen years old and living in Nicaragua.

In August of 1967, the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN), then a four year old floundering guerrilla movement, suffered a crushing defeat in Pancasán, a remote area in northern Nicaragua. La Guardia Nacional had decimated an entire column of revolutionaries and Novedades, the Somoza family newspaper, displayed the photographs of eighteen young guerrilleros, also in death, with a headline that proudly proclaimed the total annihilation of communists and communism in Nicaragua.

I can vividly recall my shock as I stared at the photographs. Somoza’s publicists did their best to degrade the dead, and in the process warn other young Nicaraguans about the consequences of following their example. Somoza’s pitiless handling of the matter made me admire the sacrifice of these Sandinistas. What’s more, in spite of the grotesque spectacle, I could see that these young men, only a few years older than me, were not the monsters the dictator’s press made them out to be. And starting that day I became a Sandinista sympathizer.

More than thirty years later, while comparing notes with other Nicaraguans my age, I learned that I wasn’t the only adolescent so impacted. In fact, after the Nicaraguan government’s callous display of the dead there was a surge in Sandinista recruits—and Pancasán became a battle cry for the hundreds that joined David in the fight against Goliath.

When I look at Maj. Gen. Caldwell standing next to the photograph of Al-Zarqawi, it saddens me to know that thousands of young Muslims are now knocking on Al-Qaeda’s door, ready to join as a result of their outrage over the heartless—and undoubtedly perceived as boastful—display of their dead.

The Pentagon could have learned a valuable lesson from the mistake of a former ally and, for many who work there, fellow West Point graduate. Instead, the leadership of the U.S. armed forces in Iraq committed a major public relations blunder. They’ve created a martyr worthy of imitation and handed Osama bin Laden a formidable recruitment poster.