Opinion (Michael Boyle): A cruel logic

The bombings which killed over 180 people yesterday in Baghdad illustrate the shortfalls of the American "surge" strategy in Iraq. Flooding Baghdad and its surrounding regions with additional US and Iraqi troops may hamper open insurgent activity, but it cannot stop groups such as al-Qaida from launching spectacular attacks or conducting a low-intensity campaign of murder across the country.

One of yesterday's bombs, hidden in the entryway of the Shia-dominated Sadriya market, was emblematic of the insurgents' adaptation to the surge. Insurgent groups hope that spectacular attacks will inflict massive casualties on the Shia population and lead their militias and death squads (located in and out of the government) to launch reprisals on Sunnis. This kicks off a tit-for-tat campaign of killing between the sectarian communities and creates a new problem for both US and Iraqi forces.

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