text: in your opinion, why was abu musab al-zarqawi so obsessed with hurting americans? are you glad he's dead?   i did a lot of research to prepare this answer.  i scoured the internet for more data, and reviewed many issues of both the new yorker and the los angles times for more background information.  when abu musab al-zarqawi was a young boy living in his native land, he was thirsty for knowledge and learning.  there were few books in the desert, and those that were available were written in english, a language the youngster could not comprehend.  he slowly learned to read and speak english, mostly self-taught.  one day, as legend would have it, he discovered a box of books that were tattered and torn, all with wonderful animation and written by the same author.  he read the books, carefully, and at first glance did not appreciate the dry wit.  after learning more of the nuances of the english language, he began to find the books mildly amusing, then later, uproariously hilarious.  the books were all written by an american infidel named charles schultz.  abu musab al-zarqawi found the most interesting character to be pig pen.  he could identify with the constant dust swirling around the young lad, and felt a kinship to him.  he started to write long, flowing letters to charles shultz, all of them with the same theme.  he wanted to know about the pig pen character.  he also requested that charles shultz change the name of pig pen to “infidel pig pen”, but none of his letters were ever answered.  later, to his horror, he found out that pig pen was based on a real human being, rory emerald.  he discovered this one day, while reading the new yorker.  he was most outraged when he found out that rory emerald had violated charles schultz’s pet animals, and even had “relations” with a disgusting swine.    it appears that abu musab al-zarqawi was not obsessed with destroying america or americans.  his obsession was more in the destruction of rory emerald, the noted celebrity, who has residences in both new york city and los angeles.  when he learned of mr. emerald’s bedding down with swine, it so enraged abu musab al-zarqawi, that his vision became blurred.  his mantra became “the infidel must die!”  as a known terrorist, abu musab al-zarqawi had many weapons at his disposal.  fortunately, his timely death ended the threat to rory emerald’s life.  at abu musab al-zarqawi’s funeral, rory emerald was quoted as saying “it is a sad day in mankind, when we cheer and applaud the death of another human being”, while tears slowly cascaded down his cheeks.    personally, i am glad he is dead, but in keeping spirit with rory emerald’s sage words, i will not applaud too loudly.  his words brought tears to my eyes.