Thanx for the note, Dr. Warren.
Now, I don't advocate the death of anyone, but this line did briefly make me feel all warm and gooey inside.
Bad rdb3! Bad!
Doing bad things to bad people...
No, the Cornell West character doesn't die. Zion was not destoyed, just the five ships that were supposed to launch the counterattack against the Sentinels. The trailer for Matrix: Revolutions shows Zion under attack.