Who's sad about Zarqawi?

Hamas. The Taliban. The rest of his buds at al-Qaeda, Inc. And, of course, many in the MSM, who hate to see anything that might help President Bush. Some Wester voices have claimed the killing of Zarqawi might "prolong" the war. That only makes sense if the end you are seeking is a US surrender. As the Jerusalem Post notes, killing terrorist leaders does work:

Now a debate will ensue over whether decapitating a terrorist organization makes any difference, as happened after Israel killed Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin and his successor Abdul Aziz Rantisi. Israel found that it did, in that shortly after these operations Hamas agreed to a "cease-fire" and the number of terror attacks against Israel dropped significantly.

Israel has learned that terrorism is not an inexorable plague that cannot be fought militarily. But we have also learned that no single operation is sufficient, and that the military pressure on the terrorists must be relentless.

Accordingly, the fact that terrorist attacks will likely continue in Iraq is argument for redoubling the military response, not that fighting is futile and victory is impossible.

The Post article also covers some revealing statements by Hamas leaders mourning Zarqawi.

At least we can all agree with this statement from an al-Qaeda web site:

"We want to give you the joyous news of the martyrdom of the mujahed sheik Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said the statement.

Joyous news, indeed.

Warren Buttler

Lately, I have been listening to Warren Buttler's CD Cultivation of Grace. It's a beautiful collection of instrumental pieces, mainly guitar, mostly his own compositions. He has a very inventive style, and he plays all the notes in all the songs.

Warren is an old friend and college roommate, although I haven't seen him or communicated with him in 30 years. He's one of the small group of friends who gave me the nickname, "Abe," which has followed me through the years. He was a good friend, and I regret losing track of him. If you see this, Warren, drop me a line.

Even as a college freshman Warren was an excellent guitar player. We and another roomie (Barry) were aspiring pop stars, although Warren was the only one with actual talent. Barry was an obnoxious New Yorker (not necessarily redundant) who was always describing someone or another (frequently me) as a "yenta," and complaining about all things Nebraskan. ("This coffee is pisswatta.") I suggested that if Barry ever got a band, it would be called Monumental Yenta and the Pisswater Band. The next summer Warren actually used that name for his band back home in New Jersey.

I hit upon Warren's music last month via a nostalgic Google search on his name. The Amazon page has a short bio of Warren by Warren, which will give you an interesting picture of his life since we left college.

I bought this album and his earlier one, The Properties of Mercy, from Amazon. They are also available for download through the iTunes Music Store at a lower cost. I strongly recommend both of them. He has also written two books on handguns, for those who might be interested.

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