"About an hour later, the patrol came across a white bag on the roadside that Tapalman suspected might contain a bomb. When he asked some Iraqi soldiers to move it off the road, their commander balked, saying it wasn't his job. 'It is your job to protect the people,' Tapalman said, increasingly exasperated. 'I can go and move it myself, and you know what? I will, but don't you think your people should see you doing that kind of stuff? Someday we're not going to be here anymore.' The Iraqi soldier declined again, apologetically, and drove away."

A mordant joke told during the Cold War concerned asking an Italian, a Frenchman, an Englishman and a Russian to each describe his most cherished dream. The Italian said, "I want my country to produce the greatest artists." The Frenchman said, "I want my nation to produce the greatest philosophers." The Englishman said, "I want my country to produce the greatest parliamentarians." The Russian said, "I want my neighbor's cow to die."

The joke was no laughing matter because it turned on this truth: A history of brutalizing tyranny had stunted the Russians' aptitude for collective aspirations. Which brings us back to Iraq, which Patrick J. McDonnell of the Los Angeles Times covered for two years following the 2003 invasion. He recently returned. His Oct. 23 report ( "Into the Abyss of Baghdad") begins:

"One evening I accompanied a three-Humvee convoy of MPs through largely Shiite east Baghdad ... The objective that evening was to patrol with Iraqi police, but the Iraqi lawmen are hesitant to be seen with Americans, whom they regard as IED [improvised explosive device] magnets. The joint patrol never worked out ... The next night, an armor-piercing bomb hit the same squad, Gator 1-2. A sergeant with whom I had ridden the previous evening lost a leg; the gunner and driver suffered severe shrapnel wounds."

"Also the western districts are Al Anbar, Najaf, and Ninawa, hardly immune to violence."

link

"In Iraq, there is little doubt now that the holiday break from violence was just that. At least 92 Iraqis have so far died on Monday and another 119 were wounded. The U.S. death toll for October alone hit 101 today making this the fourth deadliest month since the war began. An 89th Military Police Brigade servicemember was killed by a sniper in east Baghdad today. The military also reported this morning that a Marine was killed "due to enemy action" in Anbar Province. In major news, at least 33 were killed in a bombing in Sadr City and a senior member of a Sunni group was assassinated.

In Baghdad’s Sadr City area, day laborers waiting for jobs at a market square were greeted by a bomb hidden in a trash bin instead; at least 33 were killed and 59 wounded. Some reports place the wounded at around 100. Also, gunmen killed Essam al-Rawi and his bodyguard near his home in the capital. As well as the head of the University Professor’s Union, al-Rawi was a senior member of a hard-line Sunni group, Association of Muslim Scholars, that has boycotted much of the political process in Iraq and is said to be tied to militia groups.

Car bombing resumed at a brisk pace in Baghdad: Three were killed and six wounded when a car bomb went off in the Amil district. In the Hurriya neighborhood, two were wounded when a car bomb exploded there as well. Yet another car bomb near the Yarmouk Hospital killed one civilian and wounded five. Another car bomb exploded in the al-Harthiya area, two were killed and another wounded. In the al-Bayaa district, a car bomb killed seven and wounded 25 others.

Suicide bombers twice attacked a checkpoint in Waleed at the Syrian border. The first attempt resulted in no casualties; however, an hour later a second bomber killed six soldiers and wounded one other.

At a police center in Baiji, gunmen killed two policemen and destroyed one car.

Five were wounded in Mosul when mortars struck an electrical power unit. A roadside bomb injured an Iraqi soldier, and four bodies, including that of a policeman were discovered in different parts of the city.

In Balad, coalition forces disarming a roadside bomb killed two militiamen they noticed nearby.

The bodies of six policemen were fished out of the river in Suwayra. The corpses bore gunshot wounds and signs of torture.

Near Khalis, a roadside bomb blasted a vehicle carrying laborers. Two were killed and three were wounded.

Six blindfolded, bullet-riddled bodies bearing evidence of torture were discovered in Mahmudiya.

In Baquba, gunmen killed four Iraqis, including two policemen, in the Mafraq district. Another four gunshot-riddled bodies were found in the same area.

A private security company lost three members in a roadside bomb blast in Basra. After the explosion gunmen attacked the convoy they were traveling in and an Iraqi girl died in that battle.