Another Al-Zarqawi cohort killed

This is almost becoming commonplace. In fact, I will be interested to see how many of the MSM heavy hitters will even mention it. Wanted Al Qaeda Member Killed American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2005 Terrorist Abu Zubair, also known as Mohammed Salah Sultan, was killed Aug. 12 by Iraqi security forces in an ambush in the northern city of Mosul, officials said today. Zubair was a known member of al Qaeda in Iraq and a lieutenant in the operations of terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi in Mosul. ... Any time that I see that another of Zarqawi's cohorts has been captured or killed, I am pleased. The more terrorist organizers removed from the scene in Iraq, the better. I am also happy to see that more and more of these raids and ambushes are being run by the Iraqi forces, as they become confident and take over the security of their country. I found this very interesting : When Zubair was killed, he was wearing a suicide device consisting of an explosive pack across his stomach armed with pellets, officials noted. One possible reason for this would be that the trusted leaders are rigged to die if captured, which would make sense. Any who are captured will certainly be interrogated for their knowledge of the organization and other terrorist plans, weapons, and safe houses. I'm curious ... I don't recall reading before about suicide bombs being found on the leaders - if any one knows stats on this, I would be interested. It makes me wonder if he was actually preparing for a specific suicide attack on the ISF or some other target when the ambush occurred. That would indicate a new level of desperation to me, if leaders are now prepared to use themselves rather than dupe some low-level bomb fodder into blowing himself up for the cause. I could be very wrong - and Abu Zubair may have been relatively small potatoes in the scheme of things. But the fact remains that the Iraqi forces are growing in skills every day, and more are being trained constantly. There are many terrorists left, and our forces and the Iraqis are still meeting up in deadly encounters. But every bit on the scale helps tip it in the right direction.