The inevitable inches closer to reality. However, I found this to be somewhat heartening:

"U.S. officials said Wednesday that surrender negotiations have secretly begun with key Iraqi military officials in hopes that some military units will not fight in a possible war.

I'm sure these characters are jockeying for position in whatever post-war government is established, and they may just be evil-despots-in-training, but the non-participation/surrender of some of Iraq's military forces prior to the start of a war could help to reduce the number of casualties.