Where is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi?
That question has confounded the U.S. military for more than a year. U.S. and Iraqi officials insisted for months that the most wanted man in Iraq was hiding in the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. But after recapturing the city last month, U.S. forces did not find al-Zarqawi there. The Jordanian-born militant has achieved mythic status as a master of disguise and escape. Although al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for scores of kidnappings, suicide bombings and beheadings of foreigners, many Iraqis believe that al-Zarqawi does not even exist. They say he was invented by the United States to justify its raids and bombing campaigns. Al-Zarqawi’s influence on the Iraqi insurgency is more complicated than both the U.S. military and al-Zarqawi make it out to be, according to Kurdish security officials. They say al-Zarqawi is likely moving around central and northern Iraq alone, finding shelter in Sunni Muslim areas dominated by former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime. “He ca
