Destruction in Baghdad I don't know about you, but for me the violence in Iraq has deteriorated into a blur of grim headlines; there are so many bombs, so many acts of violence, that I can't keep up with who's doing what to whom and how.

Still, yesterday's events stand out.

In Baghdad, as many as 200 insurgents attacked religious pilgrims on one of Shiite Islam's holiest days.

Just to repeat: As many as 200 insurgents.

An estimated 16 people were killed and 230 wounded.

I'm just curious: What newspaper reporter will have the guts to start comparing Iraqi civilian casualties during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and civilian casualties since the U.S. invaded Iraq?

Why does that matter?

Because surely it matters to Iraqis who may start pining for the old days. It's hard to imagine, I know. But then again, there were Russians who longed for Josef Stalin for decades after his death.... And in Iraq, the order of a dictator may be coming to seem preferable to the violent unpredictability of anarchy. If the United States can not keep civilians from dying at a faster rate than they died under Hussein, then what good have we done?  ¶ 9:35 AM