Just another day in the life and death of Iraq LXXIV

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It's a bad day in Baghdad:

More than 70 people have been killed by two bombs in Baghdad, attached to two mentally disabled women and detonated remotely, says a security official.

*****

The death toll in Friday morning's attacks at two animal markets was the highest in months in Baghdad.

Yes, you read that correctly: the two suicide bombers were mentally disabled women -- although one wonders whether suicide is the right word for it. Did they act on their own volition, or where they coerced into it? For that matter, aren't most suicide bombers coerced into it?

Regardless, there is no doubt that the U.S. surge has contributed to the decrease in violence in some parts of Iraq, including Baghdad. There are other factors, too, though, and, on the whole, the surge has failed to meet its critical political objectives, including political reconciliation between and among Iraq's sectarian groups.

And the fact is, Iraq is still an incredibly violent place. And it could soon get much worse. Basically, the convenient alliances between the U.S. military and Sunni insurgent groups are won't hold up and the Shiite militias, including Sadr's, will rise up once again. The sectarian violence will escalate, plunging Iraq back into the abyss, or, rather, further into the abyss. And, of course, there's al Qaeda. Bush may think the U.S. has it on the run, but it is still, needless to say, a potent force capable of immense violence.

As I have suggested before, there has been a calm before the storm in Iraq. That relative calm was broken today, as it has been repeatedly even as the war's proponents have been gloating with delusional optimism these past months. There has been no political reconciliation and the blood continues to flow in the streets.