The Rocket Scientist

In a video siezed by the U.S. military in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi--wearing American tennis shoes--is seen having problems operating his automatic rifle.

Republicus was surprised.

After all, the mastermind has demonstrated deft, 21st Century sophistication with such high-tech weaponry as a knife he used to saw off the heads of bound, kneeling prisoners pleading for their lives.

Update (May 6)

Commentary Guest and fellow-blogger Douglass said:

I was expecting to see Zarqawi load the wrong ammo in the gun, or be unable to control the gun on full auto, or drop it and have to dodge the bullets as it went off on the ground uncontrollably.

al-Zarqawi's fumbling was caused by a dud round or a poorly machined firing pin.

Yes, apparently this was indeed U.S. military propaganda taking the opportunity to mock Zarqawi (for the sake of provoking him to mistake-prone anger), that is, the problems he experienced with the rifle-- though comical in effect (and his assistant seems to have burned his hand in trying to correct the problem)--does not necessarily indicate unfamiliarity or ineptitude with weapons.

But he is wearing New Balance sneakers.

And he is no rocket scientist (not even a high-school education).

And his ass is still grass.

Update (May 7)

So, did the video warrant the ridicule of Zarqawi's primitive incompetence with semi-sophisticated firearms?

Though it is plain that the release of the confiscated video by the U.S. military did indeed intend to publicly mock Zarqawi, and that there were enough incidentals (e.g. the American sneakers, the malfunction itself...) to show that the man--albeit a ferocious, gruesome bully to kneeling and bound civilian prisoners-- is just a man who is far less to be feared than the highly-trained professional in the U.S. military (who he runs like hell from and hides), questionability arose as to whether the video did demonstrate sheer cluelessness with the operation of the weapon.

After catching wind of the buzz, Guest Douglass (link to blog inoperative)--like Republicus-- "was expecting to see Zarqawi load the wrong ammo in the gun, or be unable to control the gun on full auto, or drop it and have to dodge the bullets as it went off on the ground uncontrollably."

lol Yes, indeed, that was the impression the media alert gave, and Republicus--not a firearms expert by any stretch-- must confess that he felt like he may have missed something after seeing the video for himself, which did not provide the level of demonstrable buffoonery that was anticipated by the buzz.

Nevertheless, Republicus did his duty by circulating the report, but, unable to determine for himself what exactly was going on with the firearm, left it at "(Zarqawi is) seen having problems operating his automatic rifle."

Whether it was a problem with Zarqawi's competence or with the weapon itself was prudently left out.

Douglass shared Republicus' expectation of a buffoonish spectacle but, with a far greater familiarity with the firearm, was able to confirm that "the problem" was with the weapon, not with Zarqawi's deftness with it per se:

"al-Zarqawi's fumbling was caused by a dud round or a poorly machined firing pin."

Republicus saw fit to update the post accordingly for the sake of accuracy.

However, guest disbarred lawyer ( http://legally-insane.blogspot.com/), yet another with far greater knowledge than Republicus on firearms--and their proper maintenance and handling-- saw fit to bring it back and put the onus on Zarqawi:

"i think the video does show a high degree of incompetance with the weapon...it is a good and reliable weapon... the difference between a professional and an incompetent thug is that a professional will know how to get his weapon back into action as quickly and as expediently as possible....as further evidence of his incompetance, his handling of the weapon was very poor and unsafe. when making the video, i think it was very apparent that he "flagged" his fellow thugs several times (i.e. the barrel of his weapon crossed another person breaking a fundamental safety rule of firearms). "

So yes, the weapon malfunctioned...

...but what can you expect from someone who doesn't know how to maintain it and keep it functional?

His ass is grass.