Now that the media and the Republicans are finished touting the wunnerful, wunnerful election in Iraq, we start to see a more sobering analysis of the situation. From the Associated Press (courtesy the Detroit Free Press):

BAGHDAD, Iraq — More violence will engulf Iraq in the weeks ahead as the country’s splintered politicians and religious groups struggle to form a government, the U.S. military predicted Thursday.

The warning followed a week marked by what U.S. Brig. Gen. Donald Alston described as “horrific attacks,” amid deteriorating relations between Iraq’s largest Shi’ite religious group and Sunni Arabs who make up the core of the opposition.

Alston, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition force, said attacks that have killed at least 500 people since the Dec. 15 elections are a sign that insurgents were using the difficult transition to a new government to destabilize the democratic process.

In the month since the elections, 54 U.S. forces also have been killed.

Oh and by the way, they’re shooting our helicopters out of the sky again:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A U.S. army helicopter crashed near the city of Mosul, north of Baghdad, on Friday after coming under fire from insurgents on the ground, witnesses said.

The witnesses in al-Sukar district north of Mosul told Reuters they saw gunmen fire on the helicopter, causing it to crash.

It was not immediately clear whether the crew survived the crash. U.S. forces had sealed off the site, the witnesses said. The U.S. military said it was checking the report.

It was the second U.S. helicopter to crash in Iraq in less than a week. A military UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed on Saturday, killing all 12 aboard in one of the worst incidents of its kind since the war began in 2003.

The U.S. military believes the Black Hawk may have been brought down by bad weather, but the cause is still under investigation.

Lot’s of bad weather these days, especially in Iraq, isn’t there. Meanwhile, there are more stories in the press today of soldiers who died from wounds received in Iraq.

Sgt. Michael J. McMullen, 25, a firefighter and paramedic, was treating a fellow soldier injured by a homemade bomb on the roads of Ramadi when a second bomb exploded, the Defense Department said.

McMullen sustained serious injuries from shrapnel and was transported to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he died Tuesday.

I guess our first responders are fighting (and dying) over there so they don’t have to fight (and die) over here. Such a brilliant strategy.

And sad to say, despite President Bush’s warnings, even such exemplars of the Culture of Life as the Catholic Bishops are now giving aid and comfort to the enemy:

Declaring that the United States was at a crossroads in Iraq, the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops said Thursday the time had come to withdraw U.S. troops as fast as responsibly possible and to hand control of the country to Iraqis.

“Our nation’s military forces should remain in Iraq only as long as it takes for a responsible transition, leaving sooner than later,” said Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., speaking for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Oh why oh why do the Catholic Bishops hate Bush? He’s giving them Alito on a silver platter, isn’t he?

All snark aside, it will be interesting to see how much coverage these stories get in the major news media, especially the television news outlets. My guess? Not so much. They’re still focused on Mrs. Alito’s tears.