More than 1,800 Iraqis killed in August – Yahoo! News:

“At least 81 American service members also died in Iraq during August — an increase of two over the previous month but well below the year’s monthly high of 126 in May. American deaths surpassed the 80 mark during only two months of 2006.”

Can anyone help me understand the relevance of these numbers? Does the fact that 45 fewer Americans were killed amount to good news of some kind?

I just don’t get monthly tallies at all. I don’t even want to google how many Iraqis have died in total. Not right now. Later, I will. Sometimes I do.

But counting dead bodies by the month seems analogous to worrying about your neighbor’s dog peeing on your side of the property line, when the town has swept down the valley in an avalanche of mud.