Was Zarqawi Killed and Would that be 'Progress'?

Rumors abound that Zarqawi was killed in a gunfight in Mosul on Saturday. Here is the latest story from ABC News. The Jerusalem Post has another article here.

FoxNews tonight reported that, while some of the terrorists were killed by U.S. gunfire, several of them blew themselves up, rather than be captured.

In any case, Zarqawi has been denounced by his family. Hopefully, as his supporters diminish, our chances of catching or killing him will increase.

So, do you think that the Dems would consider this 'progress in Iraq'? Probably not, since they don't consider the following as signs of progress:

*First elections ever
*Drafting of country's first Constitution ever
*Sunnis regretting not voting in first election; urging members to vote in upcoming election
*Rebuilding of Iraq's infrastructure
*Creation of an Iraqi military, fighting side-by-side with U.S. troops
*Terrorist encounters changing from strategic military operations to suicide bombings

I think that the mainstream media should have the decency to at least report the number of terrorists killed and captured next to the U.S. death tolls printed daily in the newspapers. The American people need some sort of context in order to understand how the war is really progressing.

It will be a fatal mistake if we make cruicial decisions about our foreign policy based on opinion polls based on inaccurate, misleading information from the mainstream news media.

By the way, I know I'm rambling, but Jack Murtha quoted a statistic (twice) in the floor debate over the withdrawal resolution Friday night. He stated that 80% of the Iraqi people want the U.S. out of Iraq (or don't want us there--not sure of the exact wording--it was late and my blood pressure was soaring). Has anyone seen this particular survey? I would love to know who conducted the survey and how the question was worded.

While I am sure that the Iraqis eventually want the U.S. to leave, thus signaling Iraqi stability and sovereignty, I can't believe that they want us to leave NOW. It would be interesting if someone could do some fact-checking on this one.