Inept[itude]

Okay...maybe I'm not seeing the full picture, but the latest salvo from the US military "information" machine is, well, what's the word? Insane.

The US military found some propaganda of Zarqawi's and they've used some bits of it to mock him. Seems like that's a clever thing to do. Use their own words and actions against them. Kinda like how the Daily Show skewers the Bush Administration.

But this NY Times piece gave me pause:

In releasing the outtakes, the American military sought to show that Mr. Zarqawi is a phony who cannot even fire a basic infantry weapon without help and who walks around the desert in comfortable Western jogging shoes.

"What you saw on the Internet was what he wanted the world to see," General Lynch said. "Look at me, I'm a capable leader of a capable organization, and we are indeed declaring war against democracy inside of Iraq, and we're going to establish an Islamic caliphate."

"What he didn't show you were the clips that I showed, wearing New Balance sneakers with his uniform, surrounded by supposedly competent subordinates who grab the hot barrel of a just-fired machine gun," he said.

"We have a warrior leader, Zarqawi, who doesn't understand how to operate his weapon system and has to rely on his subordinates to clear a weapon stoppage," the general said. "It makes you wonder."

They're giving me the mental image of an inspector Clouseau-esque, bumbling terrorist, barely able to hold a rifle; This is who the highly trained US military is fighting? And they can't restore order?

Maybe he's not the best shot but he's clearly been able to avoid capture for over 3 years. The US declared "Mission Accomplished" but lost hundreds of men since then due to Zarqawi's leadership/training/recruitment/whatever.

Demonizing your enemy is one thing. It makes it much easier for the enlisted men to feel comfortable killing when you see your enemy that way. But to portray him as little more than a comical weeble-wobble seems counter-productive. It just highlights your own inadequacies.

And just imagine if an outtake reel of Bush was ever found...