Not working well for the Iraqis, near as I can tell

From Gulf Daily News (the Voice of Bahrein):

Suicide bomb blast kills 18
BAGHDAD: A bomber detonated his explosives-laden car in central Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 18 people, as Iraqi police and soldiers searched for another possible attacker who accompanied him.

The bomber blew up his BMW car in the Iraqi capital's Bab Al Sharji area, security officials said.

Medics at Baghdad's three hospitals, Al Kindi, Ibn Nafis and Medical City, confirmed that at least 18 people were killed and 64 others wounded in the powerful blast that damaged dozens of nearby shops.

From the Detroit Free Press:

The website iraqbodycount.org claims that between 82,000 and 89,000 Iraqi civilian deaths from violence have occurred. Other estimates put the number substantially higher.

The Los Angeles Times has an article about a physician-journalist who fled Baghdad, then around New Year's returned.

When we reached the hotel, I called my wife and told her Baghdad was a ghost town. I stayed in the hotel two days before going out.

When I did, I saw that people in my old neighborhood finished their errands and hurried home without laughing or talking to one another. Destruction was on every block.

I visited a doctor friend, who scolded me for returning. "It will never get back to normal," he said. "All the decent people have left the country."

I asked whether there was any hope.

"Maybe in 10 years," he said.

--the BB