Pace said U.S. forces are still finding an enormous amount of explosives in Iraq. The Pentagon and its commanders, he said, are working to find the best technologies and tactics to protect the troops, including better armor and improved battlefield operations.

He said that while the number of IED attacks has risen, the number of casualties per effective IED attack is going down. As of Tuesday, the U.S. military death toll for October was at least 93, bringing the total number of military deaths to at least 2,026 since the war in Iraq began.

Of course last month's casualty count was the highest since January -- making October the 4th worst month for U.S. combat deaths since the war began. And this year's butcher's bill (ours) is running about 9% ahead of last year's -- although God willing that will change this month, when the first anniversary of Shrub's post-election assault on Fallujah rolls around. And of course there's not the slightest sign whatsoever that these deaths have weakened the insurgency or brought the war within a measurable distance of its end. But goddammit, it's taking the terrorists more IEDs than ever before to blow up a given number of American soldiers. And that's progress.

How come we don't read more positive stories like that in the mainstream media?