Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Politically, it is a good day for President Bush. So why does he feel so compelled to lie about the details surrounding the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Just after Bush finished telling the world that the hit on al-Zarqawi was the result of Iraqi-U.S. cooperation and thanks in part to intelligence provided by Iraqis, an NBC analyst said that is NOT true.

He said that Iraqi forces were instead refusing to cooperate with U.S. troops and that this hit was purely the result of U.S. military efforts.

In addition, it appears that al-Zarqawi was practically stumbled upon. Seems the U.S. was tracking Zarqawi's spiritual advisor when they discovered that there were plans for a 'top level' al Qaeda meeting, but they were unsure whether or not al-Zarqawi would be a part of that meeting.

It was only after the bombing, that one of the bodies could be identified as that of al-Zarqawi.

The BBC is also reporting that tips from the Jordanian government were key to the hit, but no word about that from the Administration.

Symbolically, this is a victory. Justice has been served to this brutal killer. Practically, however, there will be little if any positive effect when it comes to the insurgency or to international terrorism. In these circumstances, targeting the shepherd merely allows the sheep to step up in droves. A new shepherd always awaits.