MELISSA BLOCK, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.  I'm Melissa Block.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: And I'm Robert Siegel.</s>DANIEL SCHORR: The deepening dilemma of Iraq is written in two current sets of numbers.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: That's senior news analyst Daniel Schorr.</s>DANIEL SCHORR: One is the constitution referendum on which the Bush      administration has reposed--its fingers crossed, hoped--for a functioning      democratic authority that will permit a phase-out of American troops.      But although a high voter turnout was reported, most Sunnis turned out      just to vote no.  And the constitution won by a whisker, with the Sunni      vote for rejection just short of the needed two-thirds in one Sunni      province.  Already the Sunnis have started mobilizing for sweeping      amendments after the December parliamentary election to protect their      threatened minority position.  And some militant Sunnis are negotiating      with bomb and bullet.</s>The sectarian tension helps to explain the second set of numbers: the      toll that insurgent violence is taking.  This country yesterday marked a      gloomy point where Americans killed since the invasion reached the 2,000      mark.  It took 18 months for the first thousand to be killed and 14      months for the second thousand, meaning the pace is accelerating.  But      less attention has been given to the number of Iraqi casualties.  The      Pentagon keeps no official count, but private research organizations      estimate 20,000 to 30,000 Iraqis dead, at least 10 Iraqis to every      American.</s>The sectarian tension helps to explain the second set of numbers: The insurgents are clearly engaged in an assault on the effort to create      a unified government, and it's likely that violence will be accelerated      as the election nears.  The insurgents have displayed a growing and      deadly efficiency at bomb-making and delivery, often by suicide bombers.      It appears that the Iraqi vote count is running up against the Iraqi body      count.  This is Daniel Schorr.
Senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that the deepening dilemma of the war in Iraq is starkly illustrated in two areas: the narrow passage of the Iraqi constitution and the growing body count of Americans and Iraqis.