To the Editor:

Re “Death of a Terrorist” (editorial, June 9):

I would add that the demise of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is yet another feel-good moment in the war, like the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein, President Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech in May 2003, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty, the first democratic elections in January 2005, and the agreement on a new constitution in October 2005.

As the history of the war has shown, the emotions of these feel-good moments fade quickly, and we are forced to confront once again the cold reality of being stuck in an ineptly executed and protracted war based on false premises, with no postwar or exit strategy.

The real turning point in the Iraqi quagmire will come not with the death of one overrated terrorist who represented only a small percentage of the insurgents in Iraq, but with an effective Iraqi government that can exercise real authority and control beyond the Green Zone and with real policy changes on the part of the Bush administration.

John Chalmers
Portland, Ore., June 9, 2006

•To the Editor:

You rightly point out that the deaths or killings of iconic leaders alone cannot mitigate the Iraqi insurgency. But the formation of a representative and democratically elected Iraqi government is not the only ingredient missing from the recipe for a stable Iraq.

Certainly, our government must also put forth its best effort to avoid more situations like Abu Ghraib and Haditha.

Omar Ibrahimi
New York, June 9, 2006

•To the Editor:

Re “After Long Hunt, U.S. Bombs Kill Al Qaeda Leader in Iraq” (front page, June 9):

When the United States government in all its might cannot even arrange for an orderly trial for Saddam Hussein, should we interpret the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a raid as a success, because a terrorist is dead? Or is it a failure, because the United States did not dare risk capturing him and having another embarrassing “showcase” trial that does not go forward?

Dawn Day
Princeton, N.J., June 9, 2006

•To the Editor:

Many people the world over are probably better off now that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead. At the same time, it is a bit unnerving — if not tacky — to hear the execution of a person, even a horrible person, celebrated by many as if it were a touchdown scored by one’s favorite team in the Super Bowl.

War is not a game. Violent death is not happy.

There are rumblings of a boost in the polls for the Bush administration as a result of this event. This is puzzling. People turned against this war because we were immorally lied into it, it was recklessly pursued at the expense of countless lives, and it was entered for political, perhaps even personal, reasons.

I fail to see one of those factors having changed with Mr. Zarqawi’s death.

Laurie Gindin Beacham
New York, June 9, 2006

•To the Editor:

Does the Bush administration honestly believe that displaying gigantic framed photographs of one bloodied, dead terrorist, while prohibiting the photographing of thousands of flag-draped coffins returning with our war dead, will confuse the American public as to the real outcome of this calamitous misstep in American policy?

Charles Fowler
Exeter, N.H., June 9, 2006