Who pays and suffers the most?

A few days ago while watching the news I heard that a prominent Taliban member was killed - the anchor reporting the news further said that this was a blow to the Taliban.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070513/ap_on_re_as/afghan_commander_killed
I couldn't help but wonder who suffers the most? how many soldiers were killed before we got 1 Taliban leader?
Who pays the most and who got the worst blow? the Taliban? if you believe that then I don't know what to say!
I wonder how those who've lost loved ones to fighting the war in Iraq feels about this?

One life for every 3000 give or take a few!
I'm not in anyway disregarding the life of the Taliban because I'm sure he has family who grieves his loss.
I just want to know how many times the words from the anchor person was edited and selected before being aired? Who decides what words to use and to what degree do they consider how those words could affect others?
Who pays and suffers the most and at what cost, and what is your definition or how do you measure a "blow" of one life lost compared to thousands?