2.18.07 Iraq Roundup

A number of conservative blogs are claiming that attacks have been down by 80% since the new Iraq security operation began last week.  Maybe they spoke too soon:

BAGHDAD - Two car bombs tore through a packed market area in the Shi'ite districtof New Baghdad in eastern Baghdad, killing 60 people and wounding 131in the worst attack since U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a crackdown inthe city five days ago.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb detonated byremote control killed two people, including a police man, and wounded11 civilians outside a restaurant in Baghdad's Sadr City, police said.

All of us want to be 'hopeful.'  But it might be smart for 'acknowledging reality' to be our number one priority in this year.

There is an internal battle erupting between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.  Hashemi, a Sunni, is furious that al-Sadr's Mahdi militia is not labeled a terrorist group -- even though the militia has killed thousands of Sunnis and indoctrinated disenfranchised residents of Sadr City, a Baghdad slum.  Maliki and his allies, who are Shiites, have rejected that call.

It shows that different elements within the Iraqi government have taken sides in this civil war.