Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Opinion (Charles Crain): Behind Baghdad's Terror Surge


Wednesday's bloodbath in Baghdad is a stark reminder that while the U.S. troop surge into the capital has brought a significant decline in sectarian killings by Shi'ite death squads, the Sunni insurgency and its terror attacks on Shi'ite civilians have continued to take a dreadful toll. More than 150 people were killed Wednesday as explosion after explosion rocked Shi'ite neighborhoods: The attacks left more than 100 workers dead in a Shi'ite neighborhood food market; more than 40 dead at a police checkpoint; and 11 killed in front of a hospital.

But the surge in killings has little to do with the U.S. military strategy, and everything to do with the absence of a viable U.S. — or Iraqi — political strategy.

Read the rest at Time