What's that ticking sound I hear in Iraq?

Remember Iraq? The insurgency has regrouped and ended the post election lull. Juan Cole tells us that Rumsfeld's "security forces" can't be trusted because many of them are actually part of the insurgency.

Patrick Cockburn reveals the insecurity that still plagues the northern city of Mosul. He says the current deputy governor can't trust the police of Ninevah province, many of whom are actually working for the guerrillas. The police may have helped in the assassination of the previous governor! The Kurdish deputy governor says, "I tell my bodyguards not to trust the police and don't tell them our movements."

The next time you hear Bush or Rumsfeld say that 140,000 Iraqi police and troops have been trained, remember what Khasro Goran said about the 14,000 in Ninevah province.

Dr. Cole also reports the Sunni Arabs are complaining they are being discriminated against.

The New York Times has a rundown on the insurgent activity over the last couple of days.

And then there is Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr.

Eight months after the U.S. military claimed victory over the militia of firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr, his organization has grown in sophistication, won seats in the Iraqi National Assembly and on provincial councils, and continued to agitate for the expulsion of American forces from Iraq.


The re-emergence of al Sadr, after hundreds if not thousands of his fighters were killed in uprisings last year, points to his continuing ability to harness the widespread discontent of Iraq's millions of poor Shiites.


The Shiite community was grateful to see Saddam Hussein deposed, and it won considerable political power in the Jan. 30 national elections. However, many Shiites remain enraged by the continued American presence, Iraq's decrepit infrastructure, dangerous security conditions and the weak economy, according to interviews with Iraqi analysts and politicians.


Leaders of al Sadr's organization said they'd prefer to negotiate a withdrawal of the more than 140,000 American military personnel in Iraq, but that they're prepared to send their militia to the streets again.

The MSM almost completely ignored the massive anti-American demonstrations in Baghdad recently. You may not hear about it from the MSM but Iraq is indeed a ticking bomb. And as I reported earlier, Iraq has also become a training ground for anti-western insurgents through out the region.