The capture of Abu Abbas is a big story for a variety of reasons. For one, if bin Laden or any other senior Al Qaeda leaders are still alive (such as the 7 guys who escaped in Yemen the other day), they should be reminded: Abbas’ big attack killed one American, 18 years ago. And we did not forget him.
Second, of course, it disproves yet again all the people who argued that Saddam could have nothing to do with terrorists, nothing to see here, please move on, etc.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, it’s a reminder of the benefits of military occupation. We want to get out of Iraq fairly quickly, and there will be increasing reasons to want to do so as the months roll by; we need to hand over control sooner than later to Iraqi civilian institutions. But for now, there are many benefits to having American boots on the ground, in terms of human intellligence, capture of terrorists and Ba’ath party officials, seizure of documents that will incriminate terror groupps, Arab leaders and their aiders and abettors in the West, and of course the confiscation of weapons of mass destruction.