Overshadowed

Lost in the news of the successful attack eliminating Zarqawi and a number of his top level minions, was that this was part of a much larger operation.

Caldwell said they had been focusing on al-Rahman for about a month-and-a-half.
Once they confirmed al-Zarqawi's death, coalition forces launched 17 simultaneous raids in and around Baghdad.

Caldwell said the coalition identified the targets during the search, but did not raid them sooner because they were focused on al-Zarqawi.

"In those 17 raids last night, a tremendous amount of information and intelligence was collected and is presently being exploited and utilized for further use," he said. "I mean, it was a treasure trove; no question."

So, not only did we eliminate the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, but captured a huge amount of intel that can be exploited in short order.

Also overshadowed is the fact that the Iraqi government finally approved key ministers for defense, interior, and national security after a drawn out and protracted stalemate on who to pick for those slots:

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki presented the names to parliament a few minutes after announcing the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, who has claimed responsibility for hundreds of bombings, beheadings and kidnappings since the U.S. invasion.

Maliki's selection of the cabinet was a delicate exercise in satisfying the demands of the parliament's Shiite Muslim, Kurdish, Sunni Arab and secular factions. Shiite leaders demanded control of the ministries, arguing that the nation's principal security threat is from Sunni insurgents. Sunni leaders, however, sought to control Interior and Defense, insisting that both ministries have become riddled with Shiite militiamen.

In the end, the Interior Ministry was given to a Shiite, the Defense Ministry went to a Sunni and the job of national security adviser was handed to an ethnic Kurd.

The new interior minister, Jawad al-Bolani, was nominated by the Iraqi United Alliance, the largest Shiite bloc in the parliament. But unlike his predecessor, Bayan Jabr, he is not connected to Shiite militias. He had been an engineer in the Iraqi air force until 1999. He became involved in politics after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government and eventually joined Iraq's interim parliament.

After his appointment was announced, he pledged on television to perform his job with "hard effort and integrity."

The new minister of defense, Abdul-Qadir Muhammed Jasim, was approved over the protests of parliamentarians from western Anbar province. Jasim served as commander of the Iraqi forces in that region during the 2004 military operation against insurgents in Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad.

UPDATE:
More details are emerging about the operation to eliminate Zarqawi and numerous other targets last night. The airstrikes were conducted in conjunction with Task Force 145. Bill Roggio has the details.

Rick Moran strikes a sober tone - Zarqawi's death will not eliminate the insurgency, but it is a positive step in the right direction. One has to hope that the US and coalition forces will follow up this success with additional operations against insurgent strongholds and get inside the decision making process of the insurgency to the point where they are no longer capable of disrupting Iraqi security.

Others noting the hard work of TF145 and the reaction from certain quarters of the American polity: Hot Air, Jeff Goldstein, Security Watchtower, The Jawa Report, Sundries Shack, and Austin Bay.

UPDATE:
Sweetness and Light remarks on Iraqis are celebrating Zarqawi's death. Gateway Pundit has more (and correctly notes that if the Administration had followed the cut and run advice of Murtha, Kerry, and the far left, Zarqawi would not have met his just desserts). That's a good thing (as if I needed to point that out).

Add Tammy Bruce, Wizbang's roundup of roundups, Betsy Newark, and Dr. Sanity to those commenting on both Zarqawi's end and the anti-war Left's reaction to same.