Sometimes, picking up a newspaper or accessing the TV or Web news is like stepping out of the dugout with your favorite bat, tapping it across the plate, and looking up to face two or three or five pitchers. Just when I thought I was getting a handle on the madness in Israel, here comes another pitch – high and tight – out of Iraq. One hundred dead civilians, per day, says the NY Times.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 18 — An average of more than 100 civilians per day were killed in Iraq last month, the United Nations reported Tuesday, registering what appears to be the highest official monthly tally of violent deaths since the fall of Baghdad. …

This sharp upward trend reflected the dire security situation in Iraq as sectarian violence has worsened and Iraqi and American government forces have been unable to stop it.

Which brings me to some good news for you. The war as we knew it, of the US against Iraq, is over. The Iraqis have stepped up, just as Bush and Rumsfeld promised. They’re running their own civil war against each other now. They don’t need us anymore, so our troops can move on to the next bushcluster. Iran, presumably. Or North Korea. (Feeling il yet?)

I thought I’d mention the end of the Iraq war as we knew it, since you’ve probably been distracted by one or several of the other wars. No need to thank me.