The correctest guy on the planet when it comes to things Iraqi in recent years, seems to have sources that claim that Zarqawi is/was a super-duper small time tool.

That the Muqbharat (Baath Secret Police) prepared for the insurgency well in advance, and one of the tools they prepared was Zarqawi as a means to deflect anger away from the Baathists who were then running the insurgency and to ignite religious AND nationalist fervor.

Ritter seems to think that Zarqawi may be a kind of Frankenstein's monster - that the Muqbharat thinks they are using him, but now the tide is turning and that he is using them...

They seek him here,
They seek him there,
From London town,
to Leicester Square.

One wee he's in polka dots
the next week he's in stripes
Cause he's a
Dedicated follower of fashion...