Remember Iraq?

Well it's still there and still sliding into chaos and anarchy.
Baghdad district is hit by shells, a car bomb and a suicide bomber. Police in Fallouja stay home.

BAGHDAD — Coordinated attacks Sunday in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in south Baghdad killed at least 56 people and wounded 148, local officials said.

The attacks on a market in Zafaraniya included a barrage of mortar rockets, a car bomb and a suicide bomber on a bicycle, police reported.

Elsewhere, insurgents appeared to strike a blow to efforts to bolster security in the restive western city of Fallouja, where hundreds of newly recruited police officers failed to show up for work Sunday after insurgents circulated pamphlets threatening officers, said police officials.

"We will kill all the policemen infidels," read the pamphlets, "whether or not they quit or are still in their jobs."

Fallouja Police Lt. Mohammed Alwan said that the force, which he estimated had increased to more than 2,000, had now shrunk to 100. He said insurgents had killed dozens of policemen in their homes and also attacked relatives in a weeks-long intimidation campaign.

The Republicans and the Bush administration can only keep Iraq on the back pages so long.