A short, but touching, piece turned up on Alternet.org today, reminding us that no matter what government officials may say, at some point they are going to have to produce some numbers and measure change in those numbers.  See:

"Why Numbers Matter
By Marla Ruzicka, AlterNet
War on Iraq: Just before her death, Marla Ruzicka wrote about the importance of recording and publicly releasing Iraqi civilian casualty numbers."

And this is the story from The Independent in the UK about Ms. Ruzicka and the general work related to tallying the numbers.  See:

Aid worker uncovered America's secret tally of Iraqi civilian deaths
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington

Finally, a news/obit on Ms. Ruzicka from the San Francisco Chronicle.