It was encouraging news that our military was able to assist Abu al-Zarqawi in his fervent desire to meet his maker.

While he and other misguided twisters of Islam have delusions of being rewarded with scores of virgins in the afterlife for their bloodthirsty actions on earth, I’m betting neither his god nor mine is going to look favorably upon the barbaric beheading of American Nicholas Berg or al-Zarqawi’s slaughter of countless other innocent civilians he left in his wake.

It would be politically naive to believe that one zealot’s death will signal either the end of the war, or the end of the insurgency in Iraq. There are far too many disillusioned fanatics willing to believe that heaven awaits for detonating themselves in a crowd.

Those who truly understand political science know that the success or failure of our country’s policies in Iraq will not be known for at least another five to 10 years.

It is also vital that we restore credibility by thoroughly investigating and, if justified, punishing verifiable allegations of excessive force by our troops.

It is a sad fact that acts of retribution and brutality have existed in every war, on both sides, without exception. However, condemning our entire military for the acts of a few criminals would be ludicrous and short sighted, especially when only one side of this conflict is even attempting to follow “the rules.”

Under these disparate circumstances, the vast majority of our soldiers have performed bravely and honorably.

Robert D. Beauchesne, Lewiston