Well, despite it's absence from the news lately, it's still a complete nightmare, and getting worse.
Explosions and gunfire echoed across the holy city of Najaf on Thursday as the U.S. military and Iraqi forces launched a full-scale assault to crush a weeklong uprising by militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Thousands of U.S. troops were taking part in the offensive, which began with the cordoning off of the revered Imam Ali shrine, its vast cemetery and Najaf's Old City.
"Major operations to destroy the militia have begun," said U.S. Marine Maj. David Holahan, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment.
And just when major combat operations had been over for what, a year and a half?
