Well, Duh. . . .

The New York Times reports:

The number of roadside bombs planted in Iraq rose in July to the highest monthly total of the war, offering more evidence that the anti-American insurgency has continued to strengthen despite the killing of the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Bombs Aimed at G.I.'s in Iraq are Increasing, August 16, 2006. The number of roadside bombs has nearly doubled from 1,454 in January to 2,625 in July.

“The insurgency has gotten worse by almost all measures, with insurgent attacks at historically high levels,” said a senior Defense Department official who agreed to discuss the issue only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for attribution. “The insurgency has more public support and is demonstrably more capable in numbers of people active and in its ability to direct violence than at any point in time.”

This increased competence capability of the insurgency has resulted in devasting losses for the US:

While the number of Americans killed in action per month has declined slightly — to 38 killed in action in July, from 42 in January, in part reflecting improvements in armor and other defenses — the number of Americans wounded has soared, to 518 in July from 287 in January

Further, sectarian clashes "have killed an average of more than 100 Iraqi civilians per day over the past two months. "

In other words, the military situation in Iraq is worse than ever and is steadily growing worse

I guess this means that the June 7, 2006 killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi wasn't a turning point after all?

What a shock.

Meanwhile, the senior officials of the newly existential George Bush administration "reject the idea that Iraq is on the verge of civil war, and state with unwavering confidence that the broad American strategy in Iraq remains on course. "

The Iraq war is on course in about the same way as a barrel heading over Niagra Falls.

"On course" suggests that we are in the position that we projected that we would be in at this time. Either the administration is just plain lying about its projections (past and present) or it needs to stop somewhere and ask directions, because the current course of the Iraq war has very little to do with strewing flowers at the feet of our soldiers.