The spat over a Johns Hopkins study of the dead in Iraq that many call credible but the president shot down has made its way to MSNBC's Blogging Baghad (we saw it on E&P): Says NBC correspondent Jane Arraf:

"I'm more puzzled by comments that the violence isn't any worse than any American city. Really? In which American city do 60 bullet-riddled bodies turn up on a given day? In which city do the headless bodies of ordinary citizens turn up every single day? In which city would it not be news if neighborhood school children were blown up? In which neighborhood would you look the other way if gunmen came into restaurants and shot dead the customers? … "I don't know a single family here that hasn't had a relative, neighbor or friend die violently. … Imagine the worst day you've ever had in your life, add a regular dose of terror and you'll begin to get an idea of what it's like every day for a lot of people here."

Washington Post correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekan has an essay on mediabistro.com recounting the state of terror there. His book, by the way (excerpted), just earned a National Book Award nomination.