by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math
As measured by coalition deaths per day, we are now in the most violent twelve-month stretch of the four year occupation of Iraq. However, as measured by injuries per day, things are not quite as bad as the were for the period between April of 2004 and March of 2005, a period that includes the intial outrage at Abu Gharib, rising violence before the '04 election, and the post-election flattening of Fallujah. That's the "good" news.
The bad news, of course, is that things are getting worse, not better; and things have been getting worse for quite some time. While the surge is partially responsible for the uptick in violence, it's worth noting that things have been getting worse since roughly August of 2006, despite the fact that for some time, coalition forces were reducing their role in basic security operations.
