Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of al Qaeda in Iraq, killed by US airstrike.
One of the more bloody-minded and vicious thugs of our recent past, the mastermind and chief encourager of hundreds of suicide bombings, aimed not only at Americans but at Iraqis, so that there would never be a sense of peace. He has the blood of thousands of civilians on his hands, and was actively continuing and accelerating his program of murder. He preached a variety of hard-line Islamism that made even the Taliban seem fairly moderate. In fact, he was far enough "out there" that his successors are likely to be more moderate - and less effective. Not something that happens so often in the Middle East.
Good job and congrats to all those involved on a difficult - and important - operation. This move likely just saved the lives of a few thousand civilians, and increased the chances of bringing this damned war to an end soon.
