While the "surge's" back is turned...

... Juan Cole has these two items (among others) in his comprehensive, early morning report on Iraq.

Patrick Cockburn reports that poppy cultivation for opium production is spreading rapidly in Diyala Province, and that the profits are fueling narco-terrorism because the fields are controlled by the Salafi Jihadis. American rule of Iraq is like the four horses of the apocalypse.

The US military dropped five times as many bombs on Iraq in 2007 as it had in 2006. Human Rights Watch is worried about the impact on civilian casualties.