To accept the premise Donald and others have that we have "wrecked" Iraq one HAS to also accept the premise that Iraq was better off before the war. I don't accept that, and neither do most Iraqis.

It also requires accepting the premise that leaving Saddam and his sons alone with the population of Iraq for the next thirty years would have been better for Iraq.

A perceptual mentality sees all these things as isolated incidents. I'm forcing a look at the whole picture. That picture includes a major upswing in violence that was largely handled by the Iraqis, not the Americans. It includes an attempt to form a government that is not controlled by the Shiite

Does it mean that those people killed in the recent violence--the 1,500 number is crap, by the way--are of no significance? No. It is notable that these casualties are getting about fifty times the press that the mass graves got, or the actual testimony in Saddam's trial, is getting.

As a test, what have you heard in the news about Operation Said?