Remember the Derb index? A year or so ago I suggested on The Corner that the news media keep a daily index, like the stock market indices, of how much it costs to buy a ride into central Baghdad from the airport, as a measure of success in pacifying Iraq.
Nobody took me up on it in the case of Iraq, but here’s another chance, from ParaPundit:
“In Baghdad a continuing story has been the attacks on vehicles on their way to the airport and the inability of the US military to totally stop these attacks. Well, the trains that run between Paris and the Charles de Gaulle International Airport pass through Muslim neighborhoods and the Muslims are attacking the airport trains.
[Extract] “Two trains connecting Paris and the airport were attacked Thursday, prompting engineers to run only one in five trains on Friday, rail officials said. The U.S. Embassy warned travelers Friday against taking trains to the airport, calling conditions in the troubled areas ‘extremely violent.’
“Imagine that. Muslim rebels could cut Paris off from international air travel.”