Iraq keeps getting worse

(Reuters) "Seven U.S. soldiers were killed in six separate attacks across Iraq on Saturday..... All but one of the soldiers were killed by roadside bombs."

(WaPo) "Iran has increased arms shipments to both Iraq's Shiite extremists and Afghanistan's Taliban in recent weeks in an apparent attempt to pressure American and other Western troops operating in its two strategic neighbors, according to senior U.S. and European officials."

(WaPo) "The intensity of combat and the greater lethality of attacks on U.S. troops is underscored by the lower ratio of wounded to killed for May, which fell to about 4.8 to 1 -- compared with a (previous) average of 8 to 1."

(WaPo) Before War, CIA Warned of Negative Outcomes. (The first three paragraphs outline the CIA's prewar predictions. Frighteningly accurate, and, of course, ignored.)

(Iraqslogger) The "metrics" on the surge show increasing violence. "Every indication seems to point to dramatically increased levels of violence and capability amongst violent groups inside and outside iraq."

(NYTimes) "The number of unidentified corpses discovered in Baghdad soared more than 70 percent during May, according to new statistics from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, an indication that sectarian killings are rising sharply as militias return to the streets after lying low during the first few months of the troop “surge.”"

(Iraqslogger) It appears that no one has spoken to Maliki about a permanent "Korea-style" US presence in Iraq.

(ATimes) A long and thorough look at the Shia politics as the SIIC and Sadr anticipate the fall of Maliki's government.

(WaPo) Insurgents "systematically" targeting bridges.

(WaPo) "West of the capital, American troops killed three children near Fallujah when a U.S. tank fired on suspected insurgents believed to be planting roadside bombs, the U.S. military said in a statement late Friday night. The children were 7, 9 and 11 years old, the statement said."

Later: This certainly makes it sound like Sadr has (at least) contacts with the captors of the five Britons. "private talks were reported between al-Sadr's Mahdi militia and Iraqi government officials to win the release of five Britons kidnapped last Tuesday."

It is possible that the kidnappers are unaffiliated and Sadr's negotiating to stop the attacks on Sadr City, but this does make it sound like there's some level of involvement or control.

London's Sunday Times, quoting an unidentified senior Iraqi government official, said al-Sadr's representatives were demanding an end to assassination attempts against militia leaders, an end to British army patrols in the southern Shiite city of Basra, and the release of nine Mahdi officials from British and U.S. custody.

Al-Sadr's office denies involvement in the kidnappings — of four security guards and a computer consultant. But the Times reported a al-Sadr official visited Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to tell him the men were "safe and sound" but would not be free until the demands were met.

No matter what happens, though, the US cannot touch al-Sadr.