I think this brings us up to seven or eight “number threes” killed in the al-Qaeda hierachy since 2001. Must be a hell of a corporate flow chart they have. I wonder what country the next guy will be situated in when our government decides to “promote” him. Somehow I think it will end up being whatever country the president’s taking the most criticism on that particular day.

Update: According to the updated version of CNN’s story on the death of al-Qaeda “number three” Abu Laith al-Libi:

In October, the U.S. military’s anti-terror Combined Joint Task Force-82 announced rewards ranging from $20,000 to $200,000 for al-Libi and 11 other mid-level Taliban and al Qaeda leaders. The military distributed posters and billboards with pictures and names of the insurgents around eastern Afghanistan. Al-Libi and the others were described at the time by CJTF-82 spokesman Maj. Chris Belcher as “mid-level bad guys.” (emphasis mine)

Translation: “Mid-level” is not generally a classification for a high-value target, which means there’s pretty much no difference between al-Qaeda’s recently deceased “number three man” and a couple dozen other schmucks running around out there on the AF/PAK border except that the military and the press happened to have a photo and a name for this guy.