So much for the Anbar Awakening

All that has awakened, among Sunni Muslims in Anbar and elsewhere in Iraq, in the longer term is a new round of intra-Sunni violence, which will surely only intensify now that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s “assault” against Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army in Basra has flopped, plus subsequent Iraqi Army desertions as U.S. forces tried to cordon off Shi’a areas of Baghdad.

A vicious civil war is now being fought within Iraq’s Sunni Arab community between al-Qa’ida in Iraq and al-Sahwa (the Awakening Council) while other groups continue to attack American forces. In Baghdad on a single day the head of al-Sahwa in the southern district of Dora was killed in his car by gunmen and seven others died by bombs and bullets in al-Adhamiya district.

U.S. spokesmen speak of a “spike” in violence in recent weeks but in reality security in Sunni and Shia parts of Iraq has been deteriorating since January. The official daily death toll of civilians reached a low of 20 killed a day in that month and has since more than doubled to 41 a day in March. The US and the Iraqi government are now facing a war on two fronts.

Not “spike,” but “surge” in violence, Mr. Gen. David Petraeus. This is something we cannot “win.” Be honest. Your puppetmaster/idol is leaving office in nine months from tomorrow anyway.