Video Shows al-Zarqawi Fumbling With Rifle

This undated image from video, released by the The U.S. military command Thursday, May 4, 2006, purportedly shows Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi . The full video was discovered during one of several raids against al-Qaida in Iraq safe houses in the Baghdad area starting with an operation last month near Youssifiyah, (AP Photo/Defense Department)

This is off Yahoo News:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is shown wearing American tennis shoes and unable to operate his automatic rifle in video released Thursday by the U.S. military as part of a propaganda war aimed at undercutting the image of the terror leader.

The U.S. command showed the footage to reporters at a time when it is stepping up operations against al-Qaida in Iraq and making overtures to other Sunni groups. The Americans hope to isolate religious extremists from insurgents they believe are more likely to cut a deal to end the war.

The clips were part of a longer video that U.S. troops seized in a raid last month. Al-Qaida in Iraq militants posted an edited version of the same video on the Internet April 25--but without the embarrassing segments.

This undated video image released by the The U.S. military command Thursday, May 4, 2006, shows a previously unseen images of a video purportedly posted by al-Qaida in Iraq's leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi . (AP Photo/Defense Department)

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for the U.S. command, mocked al-Zarqawi as the previously unseen footage showed a smiling al-Qaida leader first firing single shots from a U.S.-made M-249 light machine gun. A frown creeps across al-Zarqawi's face as the weapon jams. He looks at it, confused, then summons another fighter.

"It's supposed to be automatic fire. He's shooting single shots," Lynch said. "Something is wrong with his machine gun. He looks down, can't figure out, calls his friend to come unblock the stoppage and get the weapon firing again."

By contrast, the edited version which the militants posted on the Web showed what happened only after the fighter fixed the weapon--a fierce-looking al-Zarqawi confidently blasting away with bursts of automatic gunfire.

His fellow fighters and associates appear similarly inept in the newly released footage. One reaches out to grab a just-fired weapon by the barrel, apparently unaware that it would burn his hand. The camera quickly pans to the ground and then away.

"His close associates around him ... do things like grab the hot barrel of the machine gun and burn themselves," Lynch said. "Makes you wonder" about their military skills.

Photo dated April 2006 shows Major General Rick Lynch briefing reporters on sectarian violence in Baghdad. Lynch said US forces are "zooming in" on Al-Qaeda militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who may be in Baghdad or nearby. Lynch said the demise of Zarqawi is only a matter of time.(AFP/File/Karim Sahib)

First thing is first--al-Zarqawi was trying to fire a modern U.S. machine gun. You can bet that al-Zarqawi had no weapons training for the M-249, which is why he was not only having trouble firing the weapon, but his fellow fighters also had trouble with it. Second, the Iraqi military was pretty much supplied with Russian-made weapons--such as the AK-47, or or any of the Russian light machine guns that were sold to Iraq during the Cold War. So I reject Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch's derision of al-Zarqawi's military skills simply because he can't fire an American-made machine gun.

Second, al-Zarqawi is not your typical foot soldier in this insurgency. He is the guy who has developed the strategy and tactics of this low-tech insurgency that is grinding up American soldiers with their home-made roadside bombs. That is where al-Zarqawi's strength lies--in conducting both the military and political war against the U.S. occupation. Now granted, al-Zarqawi will use this footage of himself firing an American-made machine gun for his own propaganda purposes--just as the U.S. military has every right to use the raw footage of al-Zarqawi's tapes, seized by the U.S. military, for their own propaganda purposes. But General Lynch, don't deride or disregard al-Zarqawi's "military skills" because he can't fire a American machine gun. Because I can point out that al-Zarqawi hasn't been captured after three years of American military occupation of Iraq--that's 136,000 American soldiers looking for him.

Gee, with all those American soldiers looking for one little terrorist, I guess that says a lot about the incompetence of our own U.S. military--doesn't it General Lynch?