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Syrian Cannibalism Video Reminds Iraqis of Zarqawi

A video showing a Syrian rebel commander eating the heart of a regime soldier has dealt a blow to the opposition.
The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, speaks in a rare video of him posted on the Internet on April 25, 2006.  Zarqawi said Mujahideen were fighting on despite a three-year "crusader" war in Iraq.         REUTERS/handout - RTR1CSXF
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While Abu Sakkar, a Syrian rebel featured in a video tearing into the body of a Syrian army soldier and devouring his heart, isn't necessarily representative of the Syrian opposition, he does represent some of the ugliest aspects of civil war. The incident also raises questions about the future of the conflict in Syria and the parties that will be responsible for formulating the country's future.

In Iraq, there were multiple "Abu Sakkars" among the two different sects. The civil war that broke out between 2006 and 2007 produced a number of shocking scenes which, while perhaps not as terrifying as the most recent image to come out of the Syrian war, certainly contained all of the necessary elements to produce such an image.

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