Another sad day in Iraq.

Coordinated rebel attacks in Iraq kill 13, injure at least 172

In the biggest rebel attack since Saddam Hussein's capture, suicide bombers and assailants with mortars and grenade launchers blasted coalition military bases and the governor's office in this southern city Saturday, killing 13 people and wounding at least 172.

The death toll in Karbala included six coalition soldiers -- four Bulgarians and two Thais; six Iraqi police officers; and a civilian.

At least 172 people, many of them civilians caught in the chaos, were wounded in three nearly simultaneous assaults apparently designed to test the resolve of Washington's allies in the coalition governing Iraq. A Polish-led force is responsible for security around the holy Shiite city of Karbala. More at link.

What did Bush have to say about the inverse proportion of violence to desperation? Oh yes, here's the quote:

"The more progress we make on the ground, the more free the Iraqis become, the more electricity is available, the more jobs are available, the more kids that are going to school, the more desperate these killers become, because they can't stand the thought of a free society." -- G. W. Bush Oct. 28, 2003

Things must be really desperate in Iraq. What will they -- Rove & Co. -- dream up to keep dear leaders poll numbers aloft? One can only guess. We're almost out of alerts, and the Mad Cow scare hasn't riled the anarchistic vegans one iota. I know. People have told me lately that I seem more cynical. They watch Fox news.