Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is shown wearing American tennis shoes and unable to operate his automatic rifle in video released Thursday by the U.S. military as part of a propaganda war aimed at undercutting the image of the terror leader. … Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for the U.S. command, mocked al-Zarqawi as the previously unseen footage showed a smiling al-Qaida leader first firing single shots from an automatic weapon. A frown creeps across al-Zarqawi’s face as the weapon appears to jam. He looks at the rifle, confused, then summons another fighter. By contrast, portions posted on the Web showed the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi confidently blasting away with bursts of automatic gunfire. “It’s supposed to be automatic fire, he’s shooting single shots,” Lynch said of the new footage. “Something is wrong with his machine gun. He looks down, can’t figure out, calls his friend to come unblock the stoppage and get the weapon firing again.” Another clip showed al-Zarqawi dressed in a black uniform but wearing New Balance tennis shoes as he walked to a white pickup, Lynch said. “And his close associates around him … do things like grab the hot barrel of the machine gun and burn themselves,” Lynch said. “Makes you wonder” about their military skills.
So this guy Zarqawi is really an unfashionable clod who leads a bunch of numbskulls who can barely operate their weapons? So why are we having so much trouble with them? Makes you wonder what goes on in military PR meetings. Article here. Another bad PR move (brought to you by Wal-Mart’s legal team) here.