Dateline Iraq: 70 Killed in Three Days

Violence during month of Ramadan:

Iraq was on Wednesday rocked by powerful car and suicide bombings that killed 28 people, bringing the toll in a three-day surge of bloodletting across the country to about 70, officials said...

The fresh surge of violence follows a period of relative calm that had followed the bloody start to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on September 13, when Abu Reesha was killed.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq, an affiliate of Osama bin Laden's jihadi network, claimed the killing and promised a new offensive during Ramadan.

Senior US military commanders say that levels of violence during Ramadan, which since the US-led invasion of 2003 has become a period of increased bloodletting, will provide an indicator as to how soon American troop levels in Iraq can be reduced.

Wait a minute, that last sentence didn't make sense. If Ramadan abnormally increases violence, how can that be the basis for troop reduction?

We've seen this self-serving equation before. Increased violence means troops are needed more and should stay; decreased violence means surge is working and troops should also stay. Can you say no end in sight?

Technorati Tags: iraq, war, news, al qaida, bombings, bomb attacks

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