IRAQ — CIVILIAN CASUALTIES AND ATTACKS ON U.S. FORCES INCREASE: According to figures compiled by the Iraqi government’s interior, defense and health minitries, “[a] total of 923 civilians were killed in March, up 31 percent from February and the deadliest month since August 2007.”  The recent clashes between Shi’ite militias and Iraqi and coalition security forces are partly responsible as “[h]undreds of people were killed and many more wounded in last week’s fighting” in Basra. At the same time, “[a]ttacks against U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces soared across Baghdad in the last week of March to the highest levels since the deployment of additional U.S. troops” in Iraq and “reached full strength last June, according to U.S. military data and analysis.” Of the 728 attacks on U.S. forces since the Iraqi military launched the offensive in Basra last week, 60 percent occurred in Baghdad. While “surge” architect and American Enterprise Institute “military analyst” Frederick Kagan recently said “the situation in Iraq today is, I think, not that fragile,” U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith said the recent fighting in Basra and Baghdad “shows the tenuous nature of security, which is something we’ve been stressing for some time now.” 

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