More CT Blog Media Appearances on Zarqawi's Death & Legacy (updated 6/10)

By Andrew Cochran

Many of our Contributing Experts continued their heavy schedule of media appearances and interviews last night and today in the wake of Zarqawi's death, including:

Evan Kohlmann was interviewed by the AP on Friday: "My perception is that if they released a statement in the name of Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi, then he is still around and, as the deputy head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, he presumably is the new leader." Then, in another interview later by the AP, he discussed the confusion over Zarqawi's possible successor. He discussed the friction between OBL and Zarqawi with the NY Daily News on June 10: "Bin Laden may see this as an opportunity to reassert control over his network."

Steven Emerson was interviewed on MSNBC's Rita Cosby Show last night (see video here) about the use of the internet by terrorists and counterterrorism alike ("These are virtual classes in terrorism, A to Z") ; the future of the Zarqawi network; and the prospects for catching OBL, Al Qaeda #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Mullah Omar.

Magnus Ranstorp was interviewed in the same AP story as Evan and by Radio Free Europe: "I think that [his] skill, advice, and experience will not be replaced immediately. But there are others that do have that skill already, and [I think] that we will soon see another name coming to the fore. Who that will be, I don't know."

I was interviewed by the "Fayetteville Observer" about the role of U.S. Army soldiers from nearby Ft. Bragg in Task Force 145, which pursued Zarqawi to the end (see Bill Roggio's post yesterday).

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