Meanwhile In The South

Yesterday we had the post about the U.S. joining Turkey to fight Kurd insurgents in northern Iraq. Today, it's southern Iraq:

The Washington Post leads with a look at how the southern Iraqi city of Basra has turned into a lawless and violent mess as three Shiite political groups are fighting for control and British forces continue to pull back from the area. Earlier this year Vice President Cheney said the oil-rich city was a place "where things are going pretty well" but a U.S. official says "it's hard now to paint Basra as a success story."

I'm not sure there's anything else to say. It's all been said. But knowing Bush he'll want to send in more troops to subdue southern Iraq where the vacuum exists with the British quiet withdrawal.

Added: In other news, six American soldiers killed (twenty six in the last week), a whole bunch of Iraqi's killed, and al Maliki government continues to spin out of control with more Sunni's withdrawing from government .... at least for now.