We see the stories – car bombings, kidnappings, beheadings – and none of it makes Iraq seem like it would be much of a vacation destination, does it? I’m trying to imagine being someone who had to live there to do a job, but I just can’t. This AM Steve Reynolds, the editor of the Pit’s West Virginia desk, sent this across the transom: WSJ reporter Fassihi’s e-mail to friends

Damn. I would thought Iraq a hellhole before we invaded, but this is worse. Bill Maher has now started to challenge the accepted wisdom that Iraqis are better off with Saddam gone. Hussein was a sub-human despotic thug who desperately needs killing, and on that point we all agree. But be honest – look at Saddam’s Iraq and look at Iraq today – is it in fact true that we’re better off without him, or are we now looking deep into the hungry, coal-black eyes of the realpolitik beast? Are there cases where it can be worse?

For people who value freedom and democracy like we say we do, this is an almost unfathomable thought to ponder.

I was reminded of my scenario of March k3 (scroll down about a quarter of the page to “Can Iraq Win This War? An Unlikely Scenario”), way back before our mission was “accomplished,” where I pondered whether or not Iraq could win the war. It hasn’t gone down exactly how I speculated it could – there are several significant ways in which the reality has differed from my scenario – but it’s interesting to look back over it and think about how the insurgency is playing out…