What can now be derived from reaching the grim milestone of 3,000 American dead in Iraq? .... The 3,000th death is as the first - dying being the pitiable but inextricable consequence of war.

(snip)

The White House and the Pentagon, say, all too blithely, that numbers like these are arbitrary and unimportant. But that only highlights the non-numerical false milestones and would-be watersheds they have set up in the past. It is not just statistics that can lie. When Saddam was captured, it was going to break the back of the insurgency. Same when a democratic government was elected, a constitution drafted, a coalition government formed. The latest false milestone is the death of Saddam, another momentous event in the history of Iraq that is unlikely to change a single thing for American forces or those who are fighting them.

Iraq's prime minister has told a U.S. newspaper he will not seek a second term and wishes he could leave the job early.

"I wish it could be done with even before the end of this term. I would like to serve my people from outside the circle of senior officials, maybe through the parliament, or through working directly with the people," Maliki told the newspaper.

"I didn't want to take this position. I only agreed because I thought it would serve the national interest, and I will not accept it again," he said.