The second car bombing near Baghdad's "Green Zone" over two days has murdered another half-dozen, and some journalists are trying to find some significance for the attacks in the dates — Saddam Hussein, of course, was captured one year ago. Politics masquerading as reporting aside, the pertinent question is this: what deleterious effect will the two attacks have on American operations or Iraqis' preparations for and anticipation of the approaching popular ballot?

None. Iraqis have faced far worse than this; as Omar Fadhil recently told a group of bloggers, terror under Saddam was ubiquitous and ever-watchful. Insurgent thugs, ruthless and dangerous, are nevertheless destructive on a strictly local, tactical level. For nearly two years pessimists have predicted sectarian strife or total collapse brought on by terrorism; instead we've seen two years of progress in defiance of intimidation and violence. The terrorists' only chance to defeat the United States ended with the failure of a presidential challenger promising to abdicate American leadership for cultivating liberty abroad. If only they weren't thoughtless murderers, the enemies of a free Iraq might give up for the futility of it.