A Return to Violence in Iraq?

The surge was a temporary solution that threatened to fall apart the moment our forces were withdrawn from any region in Iraq. Now we are seeing a return to the bad old days:

Militants have staged a deadly wave of attacks in Baghdad two weeks after the U.S. military began pulling out the first combat brigade from last year's troop buildup.

The uptick in violence has raised questions about whether recent progress on security in the capital could be reversed as more U.S. troops are scheduled to depart.

A BMW loaded with explosives detonated Thursday in a busy commercial district in Baghdad, killing 18 people. The bombing was reminiscent of attacks seen last year before President Bush ordered an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Iraq. The increase resulted in a decline in violence nationwide.

The evidence is coming of increase in violence:

Iraq has seen some increased violence since January, including suicide and car bombings, despite a sharp overall decline in attacks in the past eight months, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

The rise in violence was partly as a result of recent U.S.-led offensives against Islamist militants, including al Qaeda in Iraq, the Defense Department said in its latest quarterly report on the war.

The release of the report, which covers December through February, coincided with a surge of violence that killed 46 people across Iraq on Tuesday.

The Pentagon noted a rise in security incidents since January in Nineveh and Diyala provinces and other areas where it said al Qaeda in Iraq militants have flocked since being driven from former strongholds by U.S.-allied Sunni tribesmen.

Public support for the war has grown since 2006. But that change with the rise in violence in Iraq:

American public support for the military effort in Iraq has reached a high point unseen since the summer of 2006, a development that promises to reshape the political landscape.

According to late February polling conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 53 percent of Americans - a slim majority - now believe “the U.S. will ultimately succeed in achieving its goals” in Iraq. That figure is up from 42 percent in September 2007.

The percentage of those who believe the war in Iraq is going “very well” or “fairly well” is also up, from 30 percent in February 2007 to 48 percent today.

The situation in Iraq remains fluid, of course. A surge in violence or in troop deaths could lead to rapid fluctuations in public opinion. But as the war nears its fifth year, the steady upturn in the public mood stands to alter the dynamics of races up and down the ballot.

And the monsters in Iraq are still alive and well. The war has only increased their hatred and butchery:

Severed fingers of five Western workers were sent to the U.S. military in Iraq, giving the men's relatives hope they're still alive.

The men were abducted in late 2006 and early 2007, a U.S. official said yesterday in Washington.

The Austrian weekly magazine News first reported the delivery of the five fingers in Wednesday's edition, citing unidentified authorities working on the case.

Patrick Reuben, whose twin brother, Paul Reuben, is among the missing, said Wednesday the FBI told his family members that "the fingers were confirmed to be those of the hostages.''