Mini-buses in Baghdad

Damned if you do.

Damned if you don't.

This morning, NPR reports on a Scylla/Charybdis situation in Baghdad. The violence in the city has made it dangerous to drive, and there are restrictions on driving: odd/even day restrictions, aimed at keeping the streets from being too crowded with cars. To compensate for that, a system of mini-buses has been set up so that people can commute to work. Ironically, though not surprisingly, the buses themselves have become particularly attractive targets, since they provide the opportunity to kill a bunch of people at once.

This is, of course, a much better situation than when Saddam Hussein was in power, and we're making “significant progress” on stabilizing the country. Yes, we are.