Now that the Iraqi insurgency has achieved the reaction that it sought, and the Shi'a thugocracy that the Blairites appeased in the south, shades of Sinn Fein looking on, has turned hostile, will we see the death toll rise?:
The latest casualties bring the number of British troops killed during operations in Iraq to 103.
The soldiers were killed as at least 31 people died and many were injured by three bomb attacks in Baghdad, just a day after a curfew imposed following violence was lifted.
The war has lost its edge in the media. Too few casualties in a land far away. Just another expeditionary force slogging it out in the hinterlands of oil and chaos.
No government likes an unpopular war, but persistence pays dividends, especially if the outcome is tough guy triple xxx. Reid is the latest to posture for the musclebuilding media. No macho leather accessories though. But if developments hit home, driving the oil price up and flowing coffins, then the war will again become a blip on the cathode ray tube. Slack jawed Cameron will prove rather effete in war mode: my prediction.