I guess the bomber did not like the lemon pie dessert?

Although I certainly support the new efforts to stabilize Iraq, and oppose the Democratic bills related to the war, this type of violence does prove that the insurgents continue to adapt their warfare to any new security measures.

Violence is now up at least 10% from last month, and so also are American and Iraqi civilian deaths. April is on track to break all records for violence. What would be right is to restore stability to the country. But so far nothing has really worked, as violence just keeps increasing, and insurgents find new security holes to exploit.

I would find it humorous that Kim and others never see such events as evidence that things are not going well in Iraq but rather as a trick to make us think things are going badly, if it weren't so damn sad.

Why does Kim assume that the attack was designed to panic democrats? Perhaps it was designed to kill people the terrorists hate? How easy, to deflect from the real issues in Iraq and somehow find a way to assign some kind of far out responsibility to democrats.

So if the surge actually, i.e., in reality, wasn't working (rather than this transparent "attempt to convince us it's not working"), what would you expect to happen?

I'll go first: bombings inside the Green Zone.

"As Allah said, it was an attempt by the terrorists to convince people that the surge really isn't working:"

Terrorists are doing what terrorists always do. The fact that conservatives fail to understand the terrorist mind and motives is clearly underscored by the statement above, and by this administration's failure to execute on the GWOT in general, and to quell the violence in Iraq in the specific.

Many conservatives seem genuinely terrified of this enemy - an enemy that they just don't understand. Putting those most effected by terrorism in charge of fighting terrorism has only served to strengthen the enemy. They are easily pulling the puppet strings of the frightened conservative mind, and making this administration dance to their tune.

Any minute now McCain will tell us how safe it is in the Iraqi parliament building.

Not to mention the suicide truck bombing that collapsed a bridge in baghdad. I'm sure the US troops who all had their tours extended by 3 months are thrilled. In 3 more months they can extend them for another 3 months.

"Any minute now McCain will tell us how safe it is in the Iraqi parliament building."

Lol! Great line Barney - you rock.

Oh, since you linked Captain Ed, I'll pass along Robert Farley's take:

Captain Ed:

Moqtada al-Sadr has decided to finally acknowledge that the surge strategy in Baghdad will undermine the basis of his power in Iraq, and has ordered the Mahdi Army to resist American and Iraqi forces trying to put him out of business.

It's working dammit!

Well in all honesty the dems are providing moral support to the enemy by defunding the troops and enabling terrorists to get their propaganda out via CNN and Al quazeera!
so there is some validity in this area PJ

To add to mantis' observation, March was more deadly than February and so far April is more deadly than March (causalities per day). I am sure this is part of the Rope-a-Dope strategy of the surge.

G.W, exactly! You rock.

Try as they might, and believe me they are doing their level best to do so, there is no way you dead enders will ever paint the reasons for the lack of successes to bring "democracy" to Iraq on the Democrats.

This is your baby, you bought it, you own it.

Americans know full well the dark side and faux cow boy George have with all their little neocon friends squandered the most laudable gift of international cooperation on a forceful push of nationalist unilateralism. Look where its gotten them.

Exactly how many ways would you like the insurgents to say that the occupation is driving the violence. What exactly would it take for you to realize that our kids do not belong there. It's just more tinder for the already out of control fire.

Get them out now, yank the funding, do whatever the heck it takes and let the Iraqi government take responsibility for the mess we made. We'll be making reperations for years for destroying their country but as it stands now the best we can do allow them to hobble together whatever kind of power structure they can WITHOUT Big Brother meddling in the contractual agreements necessary.

The only reason the US is still there is the greedy oil politicos haven't quite arranged their pound of flesh. What's wrong with you hacks? I'm beginning to believe you are stupid.

As for the bombings in the cafeteria of the Iraqi government building, where was the escalation of American troops working at that moment that someone undetected got that intimate and up close with goverenment officials.

"TV cameras and videotapes belonging to a crew sending footage to Western networks were confiscated and apparently handed over to U.S. authorities." Hiding something?

And you fools want to pin this on the Dems.

What the heck are you people smoking?

For weeks now the Administration and it's enablers, which include Republican Bloggers, have been grasping at threads and proclaiming that there are "signs" that the "surge is succeeding."

I have been writing that regardless of ones current position on Iraq that they had to avoid reading anything into events that may happen in Iraq until around June.

The "surge" has not begun and will not begin until all the soldiers are in place.

Well, I say this very sadly, the Adminsitration and their enablers jumped the shark to embrace the surge because of their blind support of it, instead of patiently waiting.

You have unknowingly given the ammunition of the "surges failure" to those that are against Iraq and they will use it.

"The only chance the American military has to withdraw with any kind of tactical authority in the future is to take substantial casualties as a token of their respect for the situation created by the invasion," he said.

"The effort to create some order out of the chaos and the willingness to take casualties to do so will leave some residual respect for the Americans as they leave," says the former ex-officer who's son is currently an officer serving in Baghdad.

So how mnay more will die for the lie perpetrated and perpetuated by the perps in the WH?

Our world is in turmoil because of one man who has brought his life long shortcomings to the White House.

Replacing stay the course with the alternative, more intensely staying the course and calling it a *SURGE*. It is like repackaging BS into smaller bags and expecting it to be no longer BS.

I can see it now, a Nam look alike photo of the last Helicopter flight out of Baghdad off of the roof of a half built, 104 acre US palace-embassy. Another lesson in "hubris" for America as we didn't learn anything the first time in Nam.

Civil maybe this will answer your question (Bill Maher):

Republicans are still gung-ho about the war. In fact, two-thirds of likely GOP primary voters support what Bush is doing in Iraq. They support the surge. They've swallowed so much Kool-Aid that any change in their diet would kill them.

All you critics realize of course just how FUBAR it is to nearly cheer this news and then, opportunistically, use it as an attempt to score some cheap political point, don't you?

Moreover, it really demonstrates just how little you understand the media motivations behind suicide bombings. They are spectacular for a reason: to generate attention and fear. And you're still pathetically buying into it.

You should go take a long walk off a short f-ing pier for cheering it on.

I don't think for a moment the Democrats in Congress are their target audience for all this, but the attention and predictable responses they get from Democrats is certainly a freebie they enjoy.

Lee you write "The fact that conservatives fail to understand the terrorist mind and motives is clearly underscored by the statement above"

Please, do not lump the many Conservatives and Libertarian Conservatives that were against nation building efforts like this in the 1990s and still are against them today.

Again, I ask that you refer to them as "Partisan Republicans."

This is NOT a Conservative or Libertarian problem.

wow...pretty much an entire thread that believes that a bomber sneaking into the Parliament building means we should immediately sound RETREAT!!

We're putting increasing pressure on them and they are FIGHTING BACK!! GASP!!!

Mantis does a cute spew above with "The surge is working" as the repeated punchline. The reverse would be just as cute! only it would be the Democrats who would provide the repeated punchline: "IT'S HOPELESS...RETREAT NOW!!"

What are we...British Sailors/Marines???

so this attack was also meant to panic the Dems to get them to increase the pressure on President Bush and expedite their efforts to get our troops out of Iraq :Kim Priesthap
How do you know? That was quite a conjecture ..Did the suicide bomber leave a note.? Are the jihadists becoming so sensitive to the ways of Congress, that they are willing to kill themselves and others to move the spectrum of debate a shade, on Capitol Hill in Washington?

We surrender Al Quaeda, we surrender Iran, we surrender Syria!! quit killing us!

Lets see how that works?

Kim,

It's totally absurd to suggest that the motivation for this suicide bombing was to panic the Democrats.

If you in fact believe that then it must be your contention that if we pulled out tomorrow all of this violence would stop. After all, it wouldn't be necessary to influence the Democrats anymore right?

This just demonstrates once again that you partisan Republicans have little comprehension of what is happening in Iraq. You haven't studied the 1,500-year schism between the Sunnis and the Shiites and you don't understand the dynamics of the many different groups in Iraq (and some from the outside) who are right now competing violently to dominate the country.

What's going on in Iraq isn't all about US and we aren't entirely responsible for it. There are plenty of willing combatants on all sides in Iraq. They are more concerned with seizing power and suppressing their rivals than with anything that is going on in US domestic politics. All we have done is create the environment in which their "free-for-all" can take place.

It was stupid to claim that the surge was already "working" when our own military commanders were saying it will take until the end of the year before we know. By suggesting that the surge was already working supporters of the war are actually undermining their position because the American people will see their claims as deceptive due to events like the ones we've seen today.

Lee, BarneyG smokes rock. So do you evidently. I want to address this to the nay sayers. What do you think happens when good men refuse to fight against bad? You think these manual Kamakazis of a conflict between self determination and forced Sharia law? I ask you, did we surrender Chicago to the underworld of Capone? Notice how well Germany faired when good men failed to stand up to the evil of National Socialism. What will it take for you to understand this fight? Does a suicide bomber have to blow up you teen age daughters at the mall, because we don't bend to sharia law, for your eyes to open? We won Tet, they lost, yet it in the eyes of America because of a bias media declared it a victory for the enemy. The outcome was unification of Viet Nam under the Communists. Do you want to be unified with OBL?

Well the comments by the anti-victory leftists above do prove one thing: the terrorism is working!

Keep it up Maqtada-- the American leftist will do whatever you want. You are a master at playing them and the press like a fiddle.

Oak Leaf,
very astute comment.
If childish domestic politics were not at the root of the Bush blogging circle and they were really war buffs, which is the most they can even hope to be, they would have recognized the folly of a mission against dis-embodied "terror". (What schmucks!)
But saving Bush day-to-day is Job 1 and reliance on strategically-placed Know-it-all Blogs with decent production values as "experts" for the Deep Stuff Out There, is just the price they pay for being Bushbots. They were fed a line, they took it, and now they're hooked.
At least the saps and dummies are. The neocons will walk into the ocean like Godzilla, to reappear as culture warriors or Truman Democrats after the elections.

wow...pretty much an entire thread that believes that a bomber sneaking into the Parliament building means we should immediately sound RETREAT!!
We're putting increasing pressure on them and they are FIGHTING BACK!! GASP!!!

Justand, exactly. You rock too! These idiots are too easy.

Oak Leaf-

I know you're gutless-keep blogging anonymously coward.

Plenty can see right through all the "claims" you make, and how dishonorable you are-you really can't tech that you either have it or you don't-you don't.

Anyone who's been around the regular COMMISIONED ACTIVE -duty for more than two weeks. You know they don't have the enormous amount of free time that you have at your disposal.

Plus you have to be one of the most disengenuous bloggers on the internet-my particular favorite is when you compared Dubai to Afghanistan-

Jeebus-Anyone that's been to Dubai and knows the state that Afghanistan has always been in-was downright embarrassed for you.

"As Allah said, it was an attempt by the terrorists to convince people that the surge really isn't working"

First it was the terrorists trying to disrupt their first, 2nd and 3rd elections, then it was them trying to influence our own elections...

As Mantis said: ...if it weren't so damn sad.

Again, I ask that you refer to them as "Partisan Republicans."

This is NOT a Conservative or Libertarian problem.

Posted by: Oak Leaf"

I've tried to convey that message here, too. But it's implications for the Bushites are too dire for them to consider in public.
More dopamine, please!

***you really can't tech that you either have it or you don't-you don't.***

Should read: You can't teach-HONOR-you either have it or you don't.

oak leaf, re:Rory

See what I mean?

Careful though; R might have a fly swatter!

"Many conservatives seem genuinely terrified of this enemy"

As usual Lee sees things ass-backwards. Those who want to retreat from Iraq and give the terrorists a victory are the ones who are terrified. The ones who want to stay and fight and destroy the terrorists are not afraid of them. We just understand what would happen if the democrats and the terrorist got their wish and the US left Iraq before it was stable.

A suicide bomber will always get through. The Israelis could not prevent suicide bombers until they actually built a fence.
What is required is to recognize that singular incidents do not cause changes to policy. The way to determine whether the surge is working is to determine whether Baghdad is safer from the car bombings, sectarian killings and other similar atrocities that scare the population.