Is Zarqawi Dead or Alive?

This is just ridiculous.

I was trying to get info on Zarqawi to have ready for the Monday morning reader, and I was appalled to read this from AP...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaida members died in a gunfight some by their own hand to avoid capture. The White House said Sunday that it was "highly unlikely" that the terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.

Insurgents, meanwhile, killed an American soldier and a Marine in separate attacks over the weekend, and a British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the south.

On Saturday, police Brig. Gen. Said Ahmed al-Jubouri said the raid was launched after a tip that top al-Qaida operatives, possibly including al-Zarqawi, were in the house in the northeastern part of the city.

During the intense gunbattle that followed, three insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said. Eleven Americans were wounded, the U.S. military said. Such intense resistance often suggests an attempt to defend a high-value target.

Notice the second paragraph in red.

What does that have to do with the question of Zarqawi's death?

Why is that in this news story?

I don't know about you, but if an evil presence like Zarqawi could be brought down, I would give my own life to ensure it happened.

(If I was responsible for that, God, you can keep the virgins, just give me one hot Vegas Hooker and all of her vast knowledge)!

But the AP is talking about "separate attacks"

So how does that fit into this story?

Maybe that they don't want to report any 'Good News' on the war.

Come on, enough is enough.

Please remember your duty as reporters, report the facts, not your opinions, that is what the Op-Ed page is for.