The fact that the car was stopped so far from the hotel may have prevented much more extensive damage, said Maj. Will Delgado of the First Armored Division, who was at the scene.

Military officials said there was no structural damage to the hotel and only minor damage to several nearby buildings. The concrete barriers absorbed much of the force of the blast, they said.

--story by Alex Berenson in yesterday's New York Times story about Saturday's Baghdad Hotel bombing

A U.S. military spokesman says they received a tip three days ago that the Turkish embassy could be a target. Had they not installed concrete blast barriers, he said, the loss of life could have been greater.

--story by Bill Redeker on ABC's World News Tonight this evening about the bombing of the Turkish embassy in Baghdad today (not available online)

I guess this is the new glass-is-half full U.S. line: Lots of civilians were injured, people are terrified, but hey, without those concrete barricades, everything could have been so much worse -- so hey, things are improving!