Chinese Water Torture

The time difference between here and Iraq makes (to me anyway) the war effort seem even more tragic than it is. Wednesday night, just before I went to bed, it was reported that 12 Marines had been killed in Najaf. That report was repeated, with updated information and by different correspondents, early Thursday morning, at mid-day, and again on the evening news. The cumulative effect in my mind left me feeling that upwards of 36 Marines had been killed in three attacks. The 24 hour news cycle makes following events in the middle east emotionally more draining than it would be otherwise.