We noted in March 2005, when US troop levels in Iraq were boosted to around 150,000 ahead of the elections, that they were up from 123,000 a year earlier, and were supported by some 26,000 more coalition troops. This was also an increase from May 2003, when Bush initially declared "victory" in Iraq. Then the US had 135,000 troops in Iraq, and officially planned to reduce that number by over 100,000 over the next four months. Now, the Washington Post informs us July 28, US troops in Iraq are being raised by 3,000 to 135,000 in response to growing sectarian violence: in other words, the same level they were at when Bush declared "mission accomplished" in May 2003. Is there a light at the end of this tunnel?

BOOK REVIEW:

INSURGENT IRAQ: AL ZARQAWI AND THE NEW GENERATION
by Loretta Napoloeoni
Seven Stories Press, New York, 2005

by Chesley Hicks

Kidnapping workers is the latest tactic of the Iraqi insurgents that some on the supposed left persist in glorfying as the "resistance." On June 25, unidentified gunmen kidnapped 16 employees of a technology institute in Taji, north of Baghdad. Taji was also the site of a kidnapping on June 21 when 64 workers of the Nasr General Company for Heavy Mechanical Industries were abducted by gunmen. Later, 34 of the workers were released, while the corpses of seven others were found. The fate and whereabouts of the remaining 23 missing workers remained uncertain. (DPA, June 25) Days earlier in Baghdad, gunmen stormed a bakery and kidnapped 10 workers. Iraqi police found nine bodies dumped in various parts of the city, all shot in the head with six of them showing signs of torture. Dumped bodies are discovered in the capital almost every day, and they are linked to sectarian violence. (CNN, June 18)

Italy down. Spain down. Now Japan. From AP, June 20:

TOKYO -- Japan ordered the withdrawal of its ground troops from Iraq on Tuesday, declaring the humanitarian mission a success and ending a groundbreaking dispatch that tested the limits of its pacifist postwar constitution.

More scapegoats are hung out to dry, this time in relation to the Hamdania case. We're reminded of the famous line from Apocalypse Now: "Charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500." One can't help but feel sorry for the families of these kids who, whatever atrocities they committed, were in way over their heads. From AP, June 22:

The worst environmental practices of the Saddam dictatorship (themselves a result of sanctions) are being revived under US occupation in Iraq's oil industry. Thank goodness this report by James Glanz made the front page of the New York Times yesterday (online at Kurdish Aspect). But will it make any difference? In its inimitably annoying way, the Times buried some of the most salient facts deep in the story, or left them out completely. We have added emphasis and annotation.

The Think Progress blog notes this disturbing confluence of news stories:

The New York Times reports [June 11] that the Bush administration is making plans to keep tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq indefinitely:

Mr. Bush on Friday made clear that the American commitment to the country will be long-term. Officials say the administration has begun to look at the costs of maintaining a force of roughly 50,000 troops there for years to come, roughly the size of the American presence maintained in the Philippines and Korea for decades after those conflicts.

Here is a pretty good indication that the US is losing control of the client state it has set up in Iraq—which, in turn, is afraid of losing control of Iraq. And, since Maliki and his gang are more loyal to Tehran than Washington, this means the invasion of Iran can't be far behind... From The Jurist, June 2: