I don't know how significant the death of Zarqawi will turn out to be, but yeah, sure, it can't be bad news.

I will say, though, that some of the people crowing about this the most now were telling us a couple of months ago that Iraqi Sunnis had already made Zarqawi persona non grata:

Captain's Quarters in January. Captain's Quarters now.

John Hinderaker at Power Line in March. Hinderaker now.

GOP Bloggers in March. GOP Bloggers now.

OK, let's add this up:

Last month was the worst month for multiple-fatality bombings in Iraq since the start of the war.

It was also the deadliest in Baghdad since the start of the war.

And it was the bloodiest month for British forces since the start of the war.

All this during a period when -- according to right-wing bloggers -- Zarqawi was on the run not only from Coalition forces and the Iraqi government but from Sunnis.

Therefore, according to these commentators, the impact of his death on the violence is likely to be what exactly?

(I was skeptical of those rift reports, as I said here back in April. On the other hand, I do think there's a hell of a lot more to the Iraq chaos than Zarqawi.)