Good ol' CNN. If Zarqawi can expect a soft landing anywhere, it's on CNN. 
Like last month, when everyone else was reporting that there were major fights breaking out all over Iraq between Sunnis and Al Queda in Iraq, CNN was reporting that al Zarqawi was "gaining ground"! The first two sentences could have come straight out of the opening of a spy/war novel:
"Iraq is on a knife-edge, bleeding and possibly headed to civil war, if not already there.
And Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is tightening his grip on the handle of that knife, according to those close to the situation."
How close is close, you might ask? I mean if you are taking the word of someone that Iraq is on a knife-edge, and al Zarqawi is tightening his grip, then you'd want to know that they had that information first hand. Unless you are CNN; then the requirement is not that tight.
"Listen to Sheik Zeidan, once one of the most prominent tribal chieftains in Anbar province, now an exile across the border in Jordan."
Oh....across an international border. In Jordan. Once prominent, now in exile. No ax to grind with this guy! So sheik Zeidan is interviewed by CNN concerning al Zarqawi and his influence in Iraq, and the sheik isn't even in Iraq! Good job. It's like interviewing Juan Cole about current issues in Iraq, only to find his area of expertise is 18th century arabia, and he's never even been to Iraq. But CNN doesn't have to depend upon chickenshit sheiks who abandon their family's historical tribal lands at the first sign of personal danger, to get the latest news on Zarqawi. They need only wait for the delivery of a videotape directly from Zarqawi himself, and they are off and running.
Defiant al-Zarqawi shows face on video
Followers told to keep faith; U.S.-led effort in Iraq mocked
Defiant! US efforts mocked! And that's just the headlines. In the story, CNN goes on to display why they've become the preferred method for terrorists worldwide to get their story out.
One of the masked fighters in the video says that insurgents have been able to develop two missiles each with a 40-kilometer (25-mile) range and a payload of 50 kilograms (110 pounds).
One of the missiles seen has Qaeda 1 written on it. Another says Quds 1. Quds means Jerusalem in Arabic. An insurgent says it is capable of penetrating armor and that they plan to use it soon.
The fighter says militants were able to kill soldiers and infidels and that it performed well in an unnamed city in Anbar.
Does that seem plausible to you? That a bunch of al Queda terrorists were able to develop a missile capable of delivering a 50 Kg warhead 45 Kms? It apparently seems plausible to CNN, since they report it without question or comment. Maybe they had help from the Iranian rocket scientists who developed that 250 mph torpedo, or the super modern flying boat (both of which were reported by CNN without the least bit of skepticism)! One can only imagine a world where CNN allowed the same level of belief in a spokesperson when they report on any of the weapons that now comprise the US missile defense system.
I guess you could plausibly say that al Zarqawi was "defiant" since he did take off his standard jihadi facemask. And you could say that he "mocked" the US in the tape, being "shown standing in a dusty, barren field, wielding a firearm." As far as I'm concerned, that's the textbook definition of defiance and mocking. Standing alone in a dusty, barren field, wielding a firearm. Next to a big cardboard missile with Queda 1 spray-painted on it. Waiting on the flying boat.
(Note: picture is from CNN. Sure looks like Zarqawi, though I'm not sure what's up with the Maine lobsterman look)
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