Ever get the feeling you're being had?

Why is it that every time something disturbing happens that involves our troops, the military finds 'good news' to offer the media.

A key al-Qaida in Iraq leader described as the group's "religious emir" was killed in a U.S. airstrike hours before two American soldiers went missing and in the same area, the military said Tuesday.

Mansour Suleiman Mansour Khalifi al-Mashhadani, or Sheik Mansour, and two foreign fighters were killed as they tried to flee in a vehicle near the town of Youssifiyah, in the so-called Sunni "Triangle of Death."

U.S. coalition forces had been tracking al-Mashhadani for some time, American military spokesman William Caldwell said in announcing his death. He said al-Mashhadani was an Iraqi, 35 to 37 years old, and that one of the men killed with him was an al-Qaida cell leader identified as Abu Tariq.

The three men were killed just hours before an insurgent attack on a traffic checkpoint near Youssifiyah, by a Euphrates River canal. One U.S. soldier was killed in the attack and two were reported missing afterward.

Why didn't they announce this when the incident happened?

Two bodies believed to be those of the missing men - Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., were recovered in the same area.

Good way to reassure families that their loved ones died for a just cause. The worst part about it is that there's almost no way to verify the military's report. But, based on past performance alone, we can be almost certain that part or all of the account is fabricated.

Caldwell said the Iraqi militant played a key religious and recruiting role in the group. The spokesman said Mansour was linked to the senior leadership, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 7 U.S. airstrike, and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the man the U.S. military has identified as al-Zarqawi's replacement.

Mansour "reportedly served as a right-hand man of Zarqawi's, and also served as a liaison between al-Qaida in Iraq and the various tribes in the Youssifiyah area, as well as playing a key role in their media operations," Caldwell said.

Citing intelligence sources, Caldwell also said Mansour was responsible for the shooting down of a coalition aircraft this spring.

But, there was a time that the military didn't think this guy was so important - so much so that they let him go.

The U.S. military captured Mansour in July 2004 because of his ties to the militant groups Ansar al-Islam and Ansar al-Sunna, but released him because he was not deemed an important terror figure at the time, the spokesman said.

The militant joined al-Qaida in Iraq sometime in the fall of 2004, Caldwell said. He displayed photos that purportedly showed Mansour with a mustache before his death and with a battered face and one eye closed after he was killed. Another photo identified Mansour as a masked figure sitting on the floor with al-Zarqawi.

A document seized from an al-Qaida hideout and released by National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie that portrayed the Iraqi insurgency as being in "bleak" shape was directly linked to Mansour, Caldwell said.

Surprise, surprise. This made-for-tv saga just keeps getting better with each passing day.