If you’re a terrorist leader, one would expect you know how to do simple things like operate a rifle, and one would expect that the people around you would also know how to handle their weapons. Not Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In video captured by U.S. forces and released Thursday, al-Zarqawi is seen struggling to operate an American-made M249 rifle, while his aides do stupid things such as grab the rifle by its barrel and burn themselves.

The video is the unedited footage from a terrorist video released on April 25. Among other things, it also shows al-Zarqawi wearing white tennis shoes with his black outfit, a terrible faux pas.

“He’s wearing his black uniform and his New Balance tennis shoes as he moves to this white pickup,” said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. “And his close associates around him . . . do things like grab the hot barrel of the machine gun and burn themselves. It makes you wonder.” — Washington Post

ThePost also has video clips of the press conference where the video was aired, and CENTCOM has the video (Microsoft ASF) posted online. Go get some popcorn and enjoy the sight of terrorists at their best.

Update: Because many Mac and Linux users won’t be able to watch the video as provided, I’ve put it up on YouTube for you all to enjoy.