Spinmeisters....

Remember when U.S. forces were puzzled by the failure of Saddam Hussein's "elite Republican Guard" to make a stand to defend Baghdad? Remember when it seemed that Saddam's forces just melted away, and no one knew where they went or what happened to their weapons and organization?

Now the White House/U.S. Media spin is that "foreign terrorists" are responsible for the recent string of deadly attacks in Iraq that has left U.S. soldiers and foreign aid workers--Red Cross, U.N., Doctors Without Borders, etc.--scurrying for cover.

Wouldn't it make more sense that the recent attacks are the work of some of those unaccounted for Republican guard units? Say, under the command of Saddam Hussein?

Remember him?

But that would contradict President Bush's posturing that we "won" handily in Iraq and that the war is over. It would defy the notion that all Iraqis despise Hussein. And it would undermine a key foundation upon which Bush sold his war, namely, that Iraq is a warren of al-Qaida and other foreign terrorists.

No matter how you spin it, the U.S. is bogging down deeper and deeper in Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraq was hit by a string of explosions Thursday that set a freight train on fire, killed a U.S. soldier in a military convoy and ripped through Baghdad's Old Quarter. Another blast injured two U.S. soldiers on a military police patrol.

The attacks came as international organizations continued their exodus from Iraq and the U.N. secretary-general warned of ``a new phase'' in postwar violence.

[…]

U.S. forces are suffering an average of 33 attacks a day -- up from about 12 daily attacks in July. A total of 117 American soldiers have been killed in combat since May 1 -- when Bush declared an end to major fighting -- or slightly more than the 114 soldiers who died in invasion that began March 20.

The escalating violence has unnerved many of Baghdad's 5 million people...

Complete story here.