The Place of Dead Roads

From the BBC, Iraqi insurgency 'undiminished':

The most senior officer in the US armed forces, General Richard Myers, says Iraqi insurgents have lost none of their capacity to stage attacks.

The chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff said there were 50 to 60 attacks a day, the same level as one year ago.

General Myers said: "I think their capacity stays about the same. And where they are right now is where they were almost a year ago."

BBC's Adam Brookes at the Pentagon said it was clear that the optimism, euphoria even, that gripped America's military leadership after the success of the Iraqi elections in January, has now dissipated.

Donald Rumsfeld: "The people that are going to defeat that insurgency are going to be the Iraqis."

Excuse me, Mr Rumsfeld, did you notice the recent article from the London Daily Telegraph:

Iraqi army and police units are deserting their posts after the recent escalation in insurgent attacks, according to reports from around the country yesterday.

Also, US 'came close' to Zarqawi catch

US forces recently came close to capturing Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq. "We were close," Gen Richard Myers told a news conference. "I think in general the intelligence is getting better. Having said that, we still don't have Zarqawi"