[Lin:] A martyr, a monster, two completely opposing views being used to describe Abu Musab al-Zarqawi this morning as news of his death spreads. CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson gives us a look at al-Zarqawi's chilling resume.
[Nic Robertson, Cnn Sr. International Correspondent:] Iraq was where Zarqawi made a name for himself. In less than a year, murdering his way to be one of the most wanted terror suspects in the world linked to Osama bin Laden.
[Jonathan Stevenson, Terrorism Analyst:] Zarqawi has emerged as a player, a global player in the al Qaeda network, having recently been formally in a way anointed as bin Laden's protege in Iraq.
[Robertson:] In a letter said to be from Zarqawi to bin Laden, intercepted by U.S. forces in Iraq, Zarqawi promised his support if bin Laden approved his plans for starting a civil war in Iraq. He claimed to be the man in the mask. Minutes later, in this rare video, beheading Nick Berg. He also claimed to be the mastermind behind even bloodier attacks like this one, killing dozens of Shia Muslims in their holy city, Karbala. As the death toll at the hands of his Sunni Muslim suicide bombers grew, his group changed their name from al-Tawhid wal Jihad to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the ancient name for Iraq. But the chilling resume of this 38-year-old Jordanian began long before the war in Iraq. Wanted for the 2002 murder of U.S. diplomat Lawrence Foley in Jordan, linked to chemical weapons plots in Europe.
[M. J. Gohel, Asia-pacific Foundation:] Al-Zarqawi has been connected to virtually all the dangerous cells which have been operating in Europe, the
[Robertson:] Even before the war in Iraq, however, Zarqawi had been singled out by the Bush administration as a link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime.
[Colin Powell, Fmr. Secretary Of State:] We know of Zarqawi's activities in Baghdad.
[Robertson:] The U.S. put a reward on Zarqawi's head and was on his trail, and had increased the reward to $25 million. Although they once thought they came close to catching him, a massive offensive and a suspected stronghold of Falluja failed to net him. In that letter to bin Laden, Zarqawi recognized he was a wanted man. "The future has become frightening," he wrote. "Eyes are everywhere." Eyes that finally found Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
[Whitfield:] Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was the face of the insurgency in Iraq. He had become almost as infamous as Osama bin Laden himself. So what does al-Zarqawi's death mean for the war on terror overall? Joining us with some insight on that is CNN terrorism analyst, Peter Bergen, on the phone with us from Zurich. Well, we've heard so many different points of view about what this could mean for Iraq. But in your point of view, what does this mean in terms of an interruption as a whole to al Qaeda as a network?
[Peter Bergen, Cnn Terrorism Analyst:] Well, let me just, first of all I think in terms of Iraq, you know, there are two insurgencies going on. One is a very large one of mostly Iraqis, and one is a small one of foreign fighters like Zarqawi who, of course, is Jordanian. But the foreign fighters are having a really disproportionate impact on what is actually happening strategically in Iraq, because 90 percent of the suicide operations are being conducted by foreigners. Sixty percent of them are being conducted by Saudis, for instance. And so it is the suicide operations that got the civil war going between the Sunnis and the Shia. They got the United Nations to withdraw and has made reconstruction almost impossible. So I think it's only in the short and medium term the fact that Zarqawi is dead is going to put a crimp on those operations.
[Whitfield:] So you see that directly related, the foreign fighters and the sectarian violence, and that perhaps with an interruption or at least with the killing of the leader of the foreign fighters group that perhaps that might affect, maybe even precipitate a slowdown of the sectarian violence?
[Bergen:] Well, not necessarily just the kind of low-grade sectarian violence. But I'm talking about the spectacular acts of suicide terrorism. For instance, the attacks on the Samarra shrine that really got the civil war under way. These were foreign fighters I think the general view is this was Zarqawi's work. But in terms of the larger al Qaeda network, you know, I think Zarqawi didn't really have an ideology except attacking the Shias. Unlike people like bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's number two, he didn't really have a coherent world view. This, after al, is a guy who was a street thug in Jordan, spent a lot of time in Jordanian jails for basically ordinary street crimes. Not somebody who was tremendously intellectually sophisticated. Now, bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have laid out quite a large kind of ideological view of the world that will survive them whether they're captured or killed tomorrow or 10 years from now. I don't think that Zarqawi is going to have some sort of ideological legacy. So, while in the short and medium term, this is perhaps good for the insurgency in Iraq in the sense that it will be damaging. I think in the longer term, in terms of the al Qaeda organization and ideological movement, I think Zarqawi's death won't have a huge impact, not compared to what we would see with the death or capture of bin Laden or Zawahiri.
[Whitfield:] And so speaking of bin Laden, given the reported and recent power struggle between Zarqawi and bin Laden, is it your anticipation do you think that we would hear from bin Laden soon?
[Bergen:] Yes, Fredricka, I think that's an excellent question. I think we're going to hear from Zawahiri and bin Laden relatively soon. And I think they're going to release audiotapes, certainly audiotapes, perhaps even videotapes in the case of Zawahiri, basically saying how happy they are that Zarqawi finally got his wish to be martyred by the infidel and how happy they are. Privately, I think that they may be saying to themselves, well, Zarqawi was good for us. He did rename his group to "Al Qaeda in Iraq" in 2004. On the other hand, while he took some of our advice, stopped beheading civilians, for instance, he did not take our advice on the matter of attacking the Shias. Bin Laden and Zawahiri don't want to be part of some major Sunni- Shia civil war. They in letters to Zarqawi, they tried to explain that. Zarqawi basically ignored that and continued with his campaign against the Shias. So I think for bin Laden and Zawahiri privately they may be hoping that whoever takes over al Qaeda in Iraq may may take their cues a little bit more from al Qaeda central than Zarqawi had done.
[Whitfield:] So this all comes to an end for al-Zarqawi in Baquba. Why was this a town that he had settled on as being a real safe haven?
[Bergen:] My understanding of Baquba is it's you know, one, it's one of the hotbeds of the insurgency. And I'll give you an example. You may remember the female suicide bomber from Belgium, November 9, 2005. She was actually recruited by Zarqawi. She and her husband, they came to Iraq, they conducted suicide operations against American soldiers in that area. So, I mean, this has long been a hotbed of the Iraqi insurgency.
[Whitfield:] Peter Bergen, thank you so much, terrorism analyst joining us from Zurich Carol.
[Lin:] Lots of questions also about whether there's going to be any fallout from the killing of al-Zarqawi, whether there could be an act of revenge right here in the United States. CNN's Deborah Feyerick working that angle from New York. She joins us from there. Deborah, what are you hearing from folks there?
[Deborah Feyerick, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Carol, that is one of the many questions right now being discussed in law enforcement agencies on all levels, local, state and federal. Many sources are telling me that everyone is evaluating whether Zarqawi's death will trigger some sort of an action inside the United States. But as of now, sources say there's no new intelligence, no different intelligence that has come to light indicating that his death will activate so-called sleeper cells or serve to trigger an attack. Now, one expert tells CNN that the general feeling has been that al-Zarqawi has never had retaliatory capabilities inside the U.S. However, there's always the concern that second or third-generation immigrants who may have trained in al Qaeda camps, who do have access to the Internet and who might be prone to extremism, could do something on their own. But the bigger concern right now among many officials is strikes against U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq. Now, last year, there was information that bin Laden was encouraging al-Zarqawi to hit the U.S., but one security expert says Zarqawi's death may actually take that off the table. But right now, Carol, we can tell you there is no increased security level in New York or Washington, D.C., or Los Angeles. Right now the threat level remains the same today as it was yesterday, as it was the day before that. Right now everyone just evaluating and assessing what this death might mean Carol.
[Lin:] All right. Deborah Feyerick, thank you very much Fred.
[Whitfield:] Well, Carol, we've heard from President Bush, members of Congress, and even Iraqi leaders. Well, now it's the turn of secretary-general of the U.N., Kofi Annan, his response.
[Kofi Annan, U.n. Secretary-general:] This is an individual who has been responsible for many heinous crimes, caused lots of problems in Iraq for the government and the people of Iraq. People of Iraq who are free to step out, people of Iraq who are only demanding peace, stability and to have their streets back. I think they will all be relieved that he is gone. And, of course, we cannot pretend that that will mean the end of the violence. But it is a relief that such a heinous and dangerous man who has caused so much harm to the Iraqis is no longer around to continue his work.
[Lin:] Praise for the Iraqi forces, including from a congressman who made headlines last November when he called for U.S. troops to withdraw from that country. I'm going to be speaking with Congressman John Murtha coming up. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.