Retaliation

After the bombing of Shiite's holiest site, you knew it was bound to happen, but fortunately it seems as if the tide has been stemmed for now:

"BAGHDAD (AP) -- A handful of Sunni mosques were attacked or burned Thursday, but curfews and increased troop levels kept Iraq in relative calm a day after suspected al-Qaida bombers toppled the towering minarets of a prized Shiite shrine."

The mid surge (crackdown) figures though, when placed in conjunction with this, do not look good:

"The crackdown was launched in mid-February and had early success in reducing the number of targeted sectarian murders between Shiites and Sunni Arabs, who were dominant under Saddam Hussein but now form the backbone of Iraq’s bloody insurgency.

"But civilian deaths rose by 29 percent in May to almost 2,000, the highest level since the crackdown began.

"U.S. military deaths have also risen during the crackdown as thousands more troops fan out through the streets of Baghdad, becoming more visible targets.

"A total of 126 were killed in May, the highest monthly total for two-and-a-half years and the third-highest since the invasion to topple Saddam began in March 2003."

September can't approach fast enough.