al-Zarqawi: This is "good news?"

I worked very hard on behalf of Senator Kerry's election in 2004. A day doesn't go by that I don't wish 11/02/04 had ended differently. I believe we would all be better off with someone with his wisdom, experience, and commitment to public service at our helm.

That said, I simply could not believe his official (no kidding, check out kerry.senate.gov) press release, addressing the death of al-Zarqawi:

"Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a brutal terrorist and his death strikes a blow to al-Qaeda in Iraq. This ruthless thug who abused the true meaning of Islam was an intruder on Iraqi soil and it's good news that he's dead. Our troops did an incredible job hunting him down and destroying him, and all of America is proud of their skill and commitment."

Good newsthat he's dead … our troops did an incredible job hunting him down and destroying him … this from the same decorated war hero who said, regarding this opposition to the death penalty, "I know something about killing. I don't like killing."

The Senator is not "flip-flopping" here (something he rarely did, despite what Rove & Co. convinced the public). He has always been in favor of the death penalty for terrorists. It's not the content of his press release that bothers me -- it's the macho, blood-thirsty tone.

The Berg beheading was horrible. That Abu Musab al-Zarqawi released a video of it is even worse. I am not defending the murderous terrorist.

But likewise, I do not regard it is as "good news" that he's dead. No one's death is "good news" to me. His capture and subsequent trial -- like Saddam Hussein and Milosevic -- that would have been "good news" to this proud American. We're a nation of laws, and I want the world to see that.

And I'm feeling a little wounded by Senator Kerry right now. Perhaps the aggressive language of press release is veteran/machismo talk -- the way military men show respect for one another. God, I hope so. Otherwise, I suspect that he may be pandering, turning up the volume on the "manly" talk, because he realizes that his outspoken advocacy for early withdrawal from Iraq makes him vulnerable to charges that he advocates a "cut and run" policy. That would make me unutterably sad.