REMEMBER IRAQ? - AT 1:47 P.M. ET:  The growing violence in Iraq, a hint of a return to pre-surge days, hasn't yet caught the American public's imagination.  It should.  The New York Times reports:

BAGHDAD — Two suicide bombers struck outside the gates of the holiest Shiite site in Baghdad on Friday, killing at least 60 people and wounding scores more, according to preliminary reports from police

The blasts came after the single deadliest day in Iraq in more than a year, and punctuated a deadly outburst of violence in recent weeks. In barely 24 hours, at least 140 people have died and 240 have been wounded.

COMMENT:  There is still an enemy in Iraq.  It knows that the new president has no stomach for the struggle.  It acts accordingly.  It also knows that the American media spin machine will blame all this on BUSH (!!). 

What will Obama do if the violence escalates even further?  It will be one of the major foreign-policy tests coming up.  The media will cover for him.  I have no direct proof, but I can suggest the idea that Obama's soft line is partly responsible for the new reversal of fortune.  It was awfully quiet in Iraq just before he took office.

April 24, 2009