Terrible news from Iraq: New York Times reporter and interpreter Khalid Hassan was shot to death. Hassan was killed while driving to work. His normal route to the Times offices was blocked by a security checkpoint and he was killed under unknown circumstances while taking a detour through the Saidiya neighborhood, which is currently a stronghold for Sunni militants in Baghdad. His death is the second casualty among the Times' roster of Iraqi employees since the start of the present war; Fakher Haider, a stringer for the Times, was killed in 2005.

Also, it's the third journalist death in Iraq this week. Namin Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh of Reuters were killed on Wednesday during a raid by American forces on militants in southeastern Baghdad.