Matthew Yglesias thinks it will not. His column in the American Prospect begins as follows:
As you may have heard, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed last week. “I just had a brief chat with our David Pryce-Jones, whose spirits couldn’t be higher this afternoon (in England),” reported National Review Online editor Katherine Jean-Lopez on her magazine’s blog. “He calls al-Zarqawi's demise both a ‘collassal [sic] morale boost for all of us but says it also has ‘big operational significance.’ When you get rid of a leader, it’s very hard to replace him. The Israelis have proved this time and time again.”
And so they have, I guess.
But inquiring minds want to know -- if it’s so hard to replace a slain leader, how come the Israelis need to prove this lesson so many times? Over so many years? Over and over again for decades?
The full column is here (no registration required).
Comments