No one mourns the wicked

Zarqawi is dead

"No one mourns the wicked..."

That phrase from the Broadway musical, Wicked, was the first thing that popped into my head when I heard that Abu Musab Al Zarqawi had been killed in a U-S air strike.

I can't muster up any sympathy for Mr. Zarqawi, who as the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq was responsible for so many cruel and tragic suicide bombings and beheadings.

I don't kid myself that this will even begin to end anything (even though several of Zarqawi's top aides died along with him.) The hostilities and unrest have been going on in the Middle East for thousands of years; the death of one terrorist, major though he was, isn't going to put an end to that. (Remember the old Imperials' song, "There will never be any peace until God is seated at the conference table"?)

But I hope and pray that it strike a blow to the central nervous system of the grotesque monster that is terrorism.

Phone calls with my brother, who is in Iraq working with a private contractor supporting Iraqi police officers, underscore just how serious is this war. I spoke with him this past weekend and at one point was bemoaning the war. My brother told me, "Be a conservative! Support your president."

Once again I was reminded of how important it is to support, and pray for, our troops. Truly they have a thankless task, but I agree with the saying, "Home of the free...BECAUSE of the brave."

Related Tags: Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, US troops, terrorism, Wicked