6 US troops die in Iraq today, 24 hour vehicle ban in Baghdad

(AP) "Three soldiers killed by a roadside bomb while patrolling south of Baghdad; one killed in an attack south of the capital; and two who died of combat wounds sustained north of the capital, in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces."

Of significance in the same article,

Security remained so tenuous in the capital on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the U.S. capture of Baghdad that Iraq's military declared a 24-hour ban on all vehicles in the capital from 5 a.m. Monday. The government quickly reinstated Monday as a holiday, just a day after it had decreed that April 9 no longer would be a day off.

April 9th is recognized as the day when US troops arrived in Baghdad "liberating Iraq." In previous years this day had been installed as a national holiday to celebrate, but, understandably over the years, that enthusiasm has waned until the holiday of liberation was abolished.

Now, they're reinstating that national holiday not as a day of celebration, but instead as an effort to keep people off the streets to try and prevent violence.

I think that says a whole lot about the trajectory of Iraq.

(The ban on motor vehicles is certainly intended to disrupt carbombings, but it also has the consequence of limiting the anti-American Shia demonstrations set to take place tomorrow.)

Earlier today, one of the anchors on CNN made the statement, "In Iraq, the war goes on despite the Easter holiday."

Really, the Iraqi fighters aren't taking Easter off? There are times I understand why Elvis shot his TV.