Who was Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi -- and what does his death mean for al-Qaida in Iraq?
For detailed answers to those questions, Robert Siegel talks with Loretta Napoleoni, author of Insurgent Iraq: Al-Zarqawi and al-Qaida's New Generation and Terror Inc.: Tracing the Money Behind Global Terrorism.
According to Napoleoni, the Jordanian gained international attention when Colin Powell mentioned his name before a U.N. Assembly in 2003. At the time he was not a member of al-Qaeda, but it was enough to inflate his image and role. Zarqawi's role eventually grew, as he became the most wanted militant in Iraq. At the time of his death, there was a $25 million bounty for Zarqawi's capture or killing.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.