A Major Victory,

Hey folks,

A major victory for us in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq who led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and kidnapings, has been killed in an air strike. According to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides Wednesday evening in a remote area 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba.

Because of this, more good news for those who follow the ever increasing gas prices, oil fell 1.7 percent to below $70 for the first time in two weeks on Thursday after the death of the al Qaeda's leader.

According to the AP,

Loud applause broke out as al-Maliki, flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told reporters at a news conference that "al-Zarqawi was eliminated."

In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said al-Zarqawi's death "was very good news because a blow against al-Qaida in Iraq was a blow against al-Qaida everywhere."

The announcement came six days after the Jordanian-born terror leader issued an audiotape on the Internet, railing against Shiites in Iraq and saying militias were raping women and killing Sunnis and the community must fight back.

Maj. Frank Garcia, public affairs officer for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, said,

"We killed him, and it's always great when you can remove someone that has caused this much harm," adding "We're one step closer to providing stability to the region."

The Iraqi government is thrilled. They cannot stop saying enough. This is a great moral booster for our troops as well.

You know, I can’t wait to see how this is going to play out in the mass mainstream media. This SHOULD be good and positive news across the board. But I doubt it. Either they will give it a little blip and move onto something else negative against the President, say it didn’t happen at all, or cannot be "confirmed", blame the President for "more innocent" lives lost during the raid, or create another diversion like showing a home on fire or the dead body of someone OTHER than al-Zarqawi, to take away this great and important victory. Let’s see what happens today. Shall we?
Peter