That's what Spencer Ackerman reports, much to the delight of the lefty blogosphere. But the numbers he cites are stunning for their insignificance. Think Progress pulls out the two most compelling stats:
According to "Iraq security statistics over the past 13 weeks," roadside bomb explosions in Baghdad "have ticked up slightly to 131 in January from 129 in December - and the last week of January is not included in these latest figures." Additionally, "the week ending on January 25 saw seven suicide explosions Iraq-wide, the most since the week ending Dec. 21, 2007."
So over the last two months, we've seen an uptick in roadside bombs of less than 2 percent? Here are the raw numbers. The number of ethno-sectarian deaths nationwide has dropped from 131 in the first three weeks of November to 76 in the most recent three weeks of January. In Baghdad, the numbers are even more impressive, from 72 in the first three weeks of November to just 18 in the last three weeks. Likewise, civilian deaths are down across the board--and in roughly the same proportions. The left has ignored the trends of the last six months in favor of comparing December, the surge's most impressive month statistically, to January, which has seen something of a leveling off. But still, the violence is down dramatically--and this is a rather pathetic attempt to demonstrate otherwise.