US death toll in Iraq reaches 3,300

Don't blame our base-ten numerical system for milestones like these -- blame George W. Bush.  Late Sunday, the AP reported the 3,300th U.S. soldier death in Iraq.

This does not include the two U.S. soldiers that were killed late last night when two choppers were downed near a U.S. air base in Taji.  The military claims the two helicopters crashed into one another, but an investigation is now under way.  Let's just hope the Pentagon can handle this investigation with more respect than the Pat Tillman cover-up.  This incident occurred after a deadly weekend in which 50 Iraqis were killed in six bombings.

And on Monday, there is more sign that Iraq is falling apart on the political front:

• The Al-Sadr bloc in the Iraqi executive cabinet has decided to quit.  "We will announce our withdrawal from the government tomorrow," one of the officials told reporters on Monday.
• The centrist Christian Science Monitor reports that the Iraqi Parliament is now in "disarray."  As one Iraqi political analyst put it, "A lot of Iraqis now are biting their fingers in regret because they voted these people in. Most [parliamentarians] have no         real base of support and command little respect."
• The religious extremist Mullahs from Iraq and Iran met on Sunday, and emerged from the meeting confident that the two groups had the same interests.

Hey George, try explaining to the 3,300 military families that lost loved ones in battle how this war has helped decrease Iran's geopolitical power?