IT'S GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO CLAP LOUDER

First, violence is on the rise in Iraq:

BAGHDAD — A recent jump in violence across Iraq continued Wednesday, with at least 16 people killed and 45 wounded in various attacks, including seven involving improvised bombs. More than 55 people were killed and more than 110 were wounded on Tuesday.

Second, not all the Sunnis are our buddies:

Six Iraqi insurgent groups took a step towards unifying the factions fighting the US yesterday by announcing the creation of a political umbrella organisation. ... The six groups in the alliance are the Islamic Army in Iraq, the al-Mujahideen Army, Ansar al-Sunna, al-Fatiheen Army, the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance (Jami), and Iraqi Hamas.

Last and worst, we've killed more civilians:

(CNN) -- Fifteen Iraqi civilians -- all women and children -- were killed by coalition forces during an operation targeting senior leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq, according to the U.S. military, which claimed the victims were put in harm's way through the actions of the terrorist group.