Patience Is An Insult

For every American politician who tells the Iraqi people to be patient, or to stand up and take control of their destiny, or to have faith in the "new Middle East," remember this: More Iraqi civilians have died in the last 35 days than Lebanese and Israelis during the same period.

July was the bloodiest month of the Iraq War. Why? Because we sent more troops to Baghdad. Iraq is a disaster, and the American troop presence there creates the violence; it does not control it.

Number of Civilian Deaths Highest in July (NYT)

In Iraq, a Failure to Deliver the Spoils (NYT)