Castle Statement on the Death of Al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted Terrorist Killed by U.S. Airstrike

Castle Statement on the Death of Al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted Terrorist Killed by U.S. Airstrike

Delaware Congressman Mike Castle, former member of the House Intelligence Committee, today released the following statement concerning the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Baquba, Iraq last night.

"Today is certainly a signficant day for the Iraqis, our military and coalition forces -- the death of Iraq's most wanted terrorist and public face of al Qaeda is a critical development in our war against terror. Al-Zarqawi was a mastermind and orchestrator of terror, causing and spreading civil war between Sunni Muslims and the Shiite majority. His death will certainly deal a psychological and organizational blow to terrorists and to al Qaeda. However, many challenges lie ahead as sectarian violence and insurgencies will continue throughout Iraq. We must remain diligent and focused on intensifying our efforts to restore electricity, rebuild schools, and assemble a modern and sustainable economy for the benefit of all Iraq's citizens. Although we have trained and equipped over 240,000 Iraqi security forces during our time there, it is imperative that we take steps to accelerate this process, and supplant our forces in the region with Iraqi troops at the earliest date possible."

http://www.house.gov/castle/pr_06_zarqawistatement.html