hattip toAmericablog
Joe Sudbury reports that today was thedeadliest day in iraq
Five suicide bombers struck Shiite marketplaces in northeast Baghdad and a town north of the capital at nightfall Thursday, killing at least 122 people and wounding more than 150 in one of Iraq's deadliest days in years.
The savage attacks came as a new American ambassador began his first day on the job, and Senate Democrats ignored a veto threat and approved a bill to require President Bush to start withdrawing troops.
At least 178 people were killed or found dead Thursday, which marked the end of the seventh week of the latest U.S.-Iraqi military drive to curtail violence in Baghdad and surrounding regions.
now let's get this:
7 weeks into a massive troop buildup we are having even more Iraqi's die in
sectarian violence.
then we have this:
Tal Afar is on fire
A year ago, President Bush hailed the predominantly Shiite Muslim city as a model of peace and a sign that the U.S. military strategy in Iraq was working. But order in the city broke down within hours after two car bombs tore through a busy marketplace Tuesday and left at least 55 people dead.
and US Casualties are rising.
Casualty Graph
now look at this graph, Look every February-March there is a big down cycle in violence.
It's because it's cold and lousy weather and the insurgents like to stay home.
In fact last year, some stupid moron neocon (But i repeat myself)
was saying Watch the Trends not the headline
April 2, 2006: What you see in the Iraq news, is not what you get. The news business demands startling headlines, to attract eyeballs. It's business, as the eyeballs are rented to advertisers to pay for it all. But the reality of the news is less startling, and consists of trends. These are the current trends in Iraq.
After three years, the Sunni Arabs, who long dominated Iraq, most recently under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, are giving up.
Last month 32 Americans were killed in combat. The last time it was that low was in February 2004
Now look at the graph, you should see a dual dip cycle, one in feb-march when it's cold
and one in jun-july when it's too hot to fight. But see what's going on now?
the dip is gone. Where did it go? We've increased tooth forces in contact with the
enemy by 20,000, or effectively doubled the number in contact roles.
(Many of our troops are guarding bases, running convoys, or patrolling the
border, so the "Surge" is really doubling forces in urban baghdad.
So while we are marginally increasing security, lots of men are dying.
actually the death rate is now running as bad as when we invaded Iraq.
and finally McCaffrey finally figured out the insurgent growth formula
The retired general, who on his latest visit also interviewed a U.S. intelligence official and some Iraqi officers, is especially critical of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It is "despised" by the Sunnis, he writes, is seen as "untrustworthy and incompetent" by the Kurds, and now enjoys "little credibility among the Shia populations from which it emerged."
McCaffrey is gloomy about the continuing strength of the insurgency. At this point, he said, about 27,000 fighters are being held, and at least 20,000 others have been killed, yet enemy combatants continue to produce new leaders and foot soldiers. The result, five years into the war, he said, is that "their sophistication, numbers and lethality go up -- not down -- as they incur these staggering battle losses."
actually the whole report is marvelous reading
So if you read this far, please don't forge tthe tip jar and the reccomend button