Just another day in the life and death of Iraq LVIII

By Michael J.W. Stickings

One can't possibly keep up with all the bloodshed, but here's what happened today (one major incident, anyway):

At least 15 people have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack near the Iraqi city of Falluja, police and the US military said.

At least 13 people were also wounded when the attacker detonated the car bomb in a market place, they said.

The attack came as the US admitted its security "surge" in and around Baghdad faced serious challenges.

A US security review said coalition forces controlled fewer than one-third of Baghdad's neighbourhoods.

So -- The surge isn't working, Baghdad isn't secure, and the violence continues. And Americans are dying alongside the Iraqis (if in smaller numbers). Indeed, the U.S. military reported yesterday that 14 American soldiers had been killed in the three days from Friday to Sunday. Consider the graph below, which shows an unmistakable upward trend in U.S. military deaths since the beginning of last year. May was a horrible month, and Bush himself has suggested that the summer, and particularly August, could be even worse.

What does this all mean? Things aren't getting better and may be getting worse. It is (long past) time for the U.S. to get out.