Bush to meet Iraqi PM-- in Jordan

On his last trip to Iraq, Fearless Leader was flown in secrecy and stayed for a few hours. The word was that not even the Iraqi government knew he was coming. Obvious conclusion to draw? Iraq is incredibly dangerous, and the White House has no faith in their government.

This time, Bush isn't even daring to set foot in Iraq (although the story takes five paragraphs to get to that), which says even less about the way things are going.

And how are things going? According to the UN, October was the deadliest month for civilians since the invasion.

At least 101 Iraqis died in the country's unending sectarian slaughter Wednesday, and the U.N. reported that 3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October, the highest monthly toll of the war and one that is sure to be eclipsed when November's dead are counted.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq also said citizens were fleeing the country at a pace of 100,000 each month, and that at least 1.6 million Iraqis have left since the war began in March 2003.

To give it a little perspective (as Salon did), an equivalent number of American civilians dead in the same month would be about 39,000.