Scanning the headlines of the major news outlets, you might think that today wasn’t a particularly violent day in Iraq.

It was.

What’s going on? Hurricane Wilma is obviously big news, but why put the mayhem (dozens of deaths, the wounding of dozens more, explosions in the high-security zone, four contractors killed, an assasination, another kidnapping, 12 construction workers killed, a marine dead, etc…) beneath such stories as, for instance, the nomination of a new Fed chairman, the Miers nomination, and various scandals that haven’t actually developed in the past 24 hours?

The answer lies in the headlines and career-making pieces of journalism that will hit the newstands in approximately 48 hours:

“With 2000 Dead, US Mulls Iraq Options”

“US Iraq War Death Toll Reaches 2000, Promting Calls For Withdrawal”

“US Mourns 2000th Iraq Casualty as Criticism Grows”

“Demi’s Hemi Semi!”

Okay, that last one is my prediction for the New York Post’s page 1 exclusive on Demi Moore’s new truck, and it’s just a guess (it would require Ms. Moore to actually buy a Dodge truck, for instance). But you get the idea with the other ones: 1,998 US military personnel have been killed in combat in Iraq. There will be no above-the-fold Iraq stories until those 1999th and 2000th soldiers get blown up, at which point Pulitzer-worthy articles that have been being rewritten and massaged for weeks (if not months) will be loosed upon the world in a storm of Brave Pronouncements, Unflinching Analysis, and shameless abuses of the word “amid.”

It’s necessary, ‘course. People like milestones and round numbers, which explains why “Jason X” was a much more important and dignified event than “Friday the 13th Part 9: Jason Goes to Hell.” But I’d like to offer some pre-perspective perspective:

The 2000th American soldier actually died in Iraq several weeks ago. Look at this list. Where you see an American with the words “security consultant” or “security contractor,” that’s a highly-trained, well-armed, patriotic American paid by our government to maintain order in a war zone. And if he’s on that list, he’s also dead. Just because we’re outsourcinig doesn’t mean there isn’t a source.

War and baseball are somewhat different. The final score isn’t computed in body counts, and killing more of the other guy doesn’t guarantee victory. War’s actually a lot more similar to fantasy baseball: The final score of this war also has to factor in the cost in dollars spent (DS), geopolitical coinage (GCS), domestic unrest (DU%), and overall effect on the War on Terror (WOT). Some leagues may also factor in Allies Batted In (ABI’s). But ours doesn’t.

Right at this moment, every US soldier in Iraq knows that he or she might be #2000. So if you’re polishing up your piece of Journalistic Excellence and waiting for the next body or two to fall into the bag, keep in mind that you’re waiting on someone who’s thinking, breathing, determined, scared and very much alive right now.

Tonight, I hope those currently non-specific but still-living American soldiers are partying like it’s 1999. Because one of them is.