Are insurgents rebels without a cause?

Apparently Abu Musab al-Zarqawi reads The New York Times.
In the May 15 article ‘The Mystery of the Insurgency,’ several experts describe tactics used by insurgents in Iraq as all wrong and their goals as unknown, perhaps even to themselves.
An audio track believed to be al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, surfaced on the Web four days later.
‘The shedding of Muslim blood,’ he explains, ‘is allowed in order to avoid the greater evil of disrupting jihad.’
The release coincided with a spate of car bombings.
Al-Zarqawi clearly thinks that killing innocent Muslims is justified, and they aren’t even collateral damage anymore.
The following is a list of casualties from car bombings and suicide bombers ‘ two types of attacks that have proven to be particularly lethal to Iraqi civilians.
Some of the listed suicide bombers also used cars, busses and, in one instance, a garbage truck. Briefs are limited to attacks resulting in death and reported by mainstream U.S. media during the first quarter of 2005.
The number of U.S. casualties in this list can be counted on one hand.
Jan. 2, 2005 ‘ Three suicide bombers kill 39 Iraqi soldiers and one female Iraqi civilian.
Jan. 3 ‘ Two suicide bombers kill six Iraqi soldiers.
Jan. 10 ‘ Two suicide bombers kill no one; two others kill three Iraqi policemen, four Iraqi security forces and four civilians.
The same day, figures from the Iraq Interior Ministry and news reports list the death toll at more than 1,300 Iraqi police officers since the late-June 2004 handover, a number on par with American military casualties at the time.
Jan. 13, 2005 ‘ A car bomb kills four Iraqi policemen and three civilians.
Jan. 19 ‘ Four suicide bombers kill two Iraqi soldiers, two security guards, five police and 16 civilians. A car bomb kills one Iraqi policemen.
Jan. 23 ‘ ‘Democracy is also based on the right to choose your religion,’ and that is ‘against the rule of God,’ a message attributed to al-Zarqawi says.
Jan. 26 ‘ Two car bombs kill three Iraqi policemen and two Iraqi soldiers.
Jan. 30 (Election Day) ‘ Seven suicide bombers kill three policemen and seven civilians.
Feb. 7 ‘ A suicide bomber kills 12 policemen. A car bomb kills 15 civilians.
Feb. 8 ‘ A suicide bomber kills 22 Iraqis waiting in line to apply for the police.
Feb. 11 ‘ A suicide bomber kills four Iraqi national guardsmen and eight civilians.
The same day, a dozen gunmen kill nine bakery workers, presumably because they work in a Shiite neighborhood.
Feb. 18 ‘ Two suicide bombers and a rocket attack kill 23 Iraqis praying at mosques. Two suicide bombers are killed while attempting attacks on mosques. A suicide bomber kills two security officers. A car bomb kills three Iraqis.
Feb. 19 ‘ Seven suicide bombers kill at least one U.S. soldier, four policemen, three Iraqi soldiers and seven civilians. More than 100 civilians are reported injured.
Feb. 24 ‘ Two suicide bombers kill 14 policemen in separate incidents.
Feb. 27 ‘ A suicide bomber kills two Iraqis.
Feb. 28 ‘ A suicide car bomber kills 125, including many police recruits, and injuries 150.
March 2 ‘ Two suicide bombers kill 13 Iraqis, including six soldiers.
March 3 ‘ Two suicide bombers kill six Iraqis. Five were police officers.
March 7 ‘ A suicide bomber kills five and wounds 27, mostly schoolchildren, while a car bomb kills 11 other Iraqis.
March 9 ‘ A suicide bomber kills one Iraqi.
March 10 ‘ A suicide bomber kills 47 and wounds 81 mourning at a funeral.
March 25 ‘ A suicide bomber kills 11 policemen.
March 26 ‘ A car bomb kills two U.S. soldiers.
March 28 ‘ A suicide bomb kills three policemen.
As of last Thursday morning, there were 21 car bombings, mostly suicide attacks, in Baghdad and nearby this month. A number more than double that for the same period last year.
More than 400 Iraqis have been killed in the last three weeks as the result of insurgent tactics, and the insurgency remains as baffling as ever.
One thing is certain: the United States and Iraq are still at war, but no longer with one another.