Even Mother Jones Says Zarqawi Is Real

For whatever reason, conspiracy theories go a long way in the Arab world. I'm not stereotyping; even a small amount of research (start with Memri.org if you're curious) will easily verify that fact (of course, conspiracy theories go a long way with certain Americans, as well). One of the more popular theories at the moment is that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is some sort of made-up propaganda instrument, a Kaiser Soze used by the Bush Administration to rally support for the war.

Well, extreme left rag Mother Jones has a tale by Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist who went on the hunt for Zarqawi because he harbored his own doubts. Although Jamail is extremely anti-Bush, anti-Iraq war, he found out: he's real, all right. Of course, he tries to have his cake and eat it, too, by still hanging on to the Zarqawi as propaganda tool meme:

...The only thing I feel I can say for sure is that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a real person. Whether or not he is alive and fighting in Iraq or not, or what acts he is actually responsible for there, is open to debate.

Well, that's true enough; it is, indeed, open to debate; but stipulating that he at least exists is a good place to start from...