Surging Toward Disaster

The surge is failing and it's getting worse.

The U. S. military knows that Sunni insurgents are launching big attacks on Shiite areas in the attempt to stimulate Shiite retaliation.

But guess what! The insurgent strategy is working. The Sunni insurgent groups are much more active now that the Shiite militias have been standing down and American troops have not been able to secure Shiite areas from attacks.

Yesterday's car bombing in the Shiite holy city of Karbala (which killed 58) was the second big attack near the Shiite shrines to Imam Abbas and Imam Hussein.

If the insurgents succeed in damaging the shrines themselves, the militas will start springing back into activity.

At that point, it will be all over but the shouting.