I'm sure most of you know this already, but Abu Musab al-Zarqawi recently put out a call for bids to public relations firms around the world to help his sagging popularity. Of course, the always progressive New York Times has decided to take this new client on a pro bono basis:

The American military, which said it captured the videotapes in a recent raid, released selected outtakes in an effort to undermine Mr. Zarqawi's image as leader of the Council of Holy Warriors, formerly Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and suggested that his fighting talents and experience were less than his propaganda portrays. But several veterans of wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, as well as active-duty officers, said in telephone interviews yesterday that the clips of Mr. Zarqawi's supposed martial incompetence were unconvincing.

The weapon in question is complicated to master, and American soldiers and marines undergo many days of training to achieve the most basic competence with it. Moreover, the weapon in Mr. Zarqawi's hands was an older variant, which makes its malfunctioning unsurprising. The veterans said Mr. Zarqawi, who had spent his years as a terrorist surrounded by simpler weapons of Soviet design, could hardly have been expected to know how to handle it.

"They are making a big deal out of nothing," said Mario Costagliola, who retired as an Army colonel last month after serving as the operations officer for the 42nd Infantry Division in Tikrit, Iraq.

Heaven forbid that the United States military might actually be given the opportunity to discredit a terrorist, murderer and general thug. The New York Times has taken up the plight of this poor man, and has once again decided to counter what was some good propaganda for the good guys.

And they wonder why their stock keeps plummeting.