1.  What is at issue in Rich Tucker's commentary?

2.  How does Mr. Tucker respond to the following negative reactions to Zarqawi's death?

• a USA Today reader's claim that "we ourselves created this monster" (para.5)
• people who say Zarqawi could easily be replaced (para. 7)
• Michael Berg's claim that "every time we kill anyone, we are creating a large number of people who are going to want vengeance" (para. 7)

3.  For what reason does Mr. Tucker think the media downplayed the good news of Zarqawi's death?

4.  What are Marines accused of doing in Haditha?  How did Democrat Senator John Murtha react to the accusation?  How does Mr. Tucker's reaction differ?  With whom do you agree?  Why?

5.  Re-read the last two paragraphs of the article.  Compare Ernie Pyle's war reporting with that of today's media.  Do you agree with Mr. Tucker's last statement that "good news needs to become newsworthy again"?  If so, consider writing to the news organization from which you get your news:
--Contact Information can be found at Congress.org.  Congress.org is not a U.S. government website.  It provides websites and email addresses for government officials and media representatives.  
--Go to Congress.org to send an email to the editor of your local newspaper, expressing your opinion on the responsibility they have to publish good news stories from Iraq and Afghanistan. (For further information about Congress.org, click here.)

For an article on Ernie Pyle, click here.

To read about Heroes of America's War on Terror, news that has generally not been reported, click here.

*SUMMER READING SUGGESTION:  For a book that is a compilation of Ernie Pyle's reports on World War II, read "Here Is Your War" by Ernie Pyle.