Escalation of Violence in Iraq

There are a couple of factors involved in the escalating attacks going on in Iraq over the last week or so.

1. With the Iraqi army being deployed as the primary force, the terrorists are going to step up their assaults to test what kind of response they get from this basically unknown force. So far the army seems to up to the task being civil war has not broken out. However, I expect the attacks to continue and intensify as the splodeydopes realize the army just gets better as time goes along.
2. The terrorists are just running out of time. Along with the Iraqi army getting better, the people themselves are starting to get pissed at the IEDs and mortars. The indiscriminate killing of civilians is eroding any sympathy to the "cause". These attacks are killing a whole lot of innocents and no U.S. military in most cases.

What happens over the next couple of months could be the real turning point. If the people stay focused on who is killing who and why, I think we will see a dramatic change in the mindset of the populace there with the people driving the terrorists out.