August 22, 2006. Religious day
A man sits amid the tombs in a cemetery in the holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, on Aug. 22, as Shiites celebrate their yearly "al-Isra wal Meraj" religious day during which they visit their dead.
Insurgency profile ebbs in wake of sectarian strife
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/15377125.htm
JEFFREY FLEISHMAN
Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi insurgency remains a potent threat to U.S. forces, but in the months since the death of its flamboyant symbol, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the insurgency's aura has been eclipsed by the widening sectarian fighting between Shiites and Sunnis, American and Iraqi officials say.
The insurgency has increased its use of roadside bombs against U.S. and Iraqi forces since al-Zarqawi's death in June, and in some ways is stronger than when he was alive. But it lacks the mix of media savvy and spectacular explosions that the former leader of al-Qaida in Iraq used to inflate the image of the insurgency beyond its military capabilities.
These days U.S. forces and ordinary Iraqis increasingly are transfixed by the danger of a full-blown civil war. Sectarian killings in July accounted for most of the nation's nearly 3,500 deaths, the highest monthly toll since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. An ongoing joint military offensive against death squads and sectarian militias in Baghdad, the capital, is viewed as key to bringing stability to the nation.
