While our eyes are on Lebanon and Israel

MSNBC reports:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Bombings and shootings soared by 40 percent in the Baghdad area in the past week, the U.S. military said Thursday. An American general said extremists were preparing “an all-out assault” on the capital in a decisive battle for the future of Iraq.

I'm suspicious of whether we know the insurgents' minds well enough to accept the American general's statement. Sounds a little too much like the Vice-President's statements about the impending end of the insurgency to accept at face value. If they go "all out" and lose, then it would be over. My guess is that the insurgents will keep some powder dry.

But, many in the US will have missed the rise in violence in Baghdad and Iraq generally. Approximately 100 people a day are dying in Iraq. Another report indicates that the Baghdad morgue has taken in about 1,000 bodies so far this month... 80 percent were victims of violence. That equates to an average of about 55 bodies a day, compared to 53 in June, 44 in May and 39 in April.

There's more than enough tragedy to go around.

GP