Another Glorious Day In The Sandbox

...As at least 26 people are killed in yet another wave of bombings in Baghdad.

Six bombs exploded within minutes near Shi'ite mosques across Baghdad on Friday, killing at least 26 people and wounding scores of others, police and witnesses said.

The blasts, which appeared to target Shi'ite Muslims taking part in Friday prayers, was a reminder of the capability of militants in Iraq despite an overall drop in violence in the country over the last 18 months. At least 67 were wounded.

Shi'ite religious gatherings in the past have been targets of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, which regards Shi'ites as heretics.

In the worst attack, a car bomb struck people praying outside a crowded mosque in northern Baghdad's Shaab district, killing at least 21 people and wounding 35.

"I saw 15 martyrs," said one Iraqi at the mosque.

But we can't pull our troops out, because that would cause Baghdad to devolve into more violence. Only 29 more months!

Meanwhile in Afghanistan:

The Afghan battlefield is spreading into residential areas where more people are being killed by air strikes, car bombs and suicide attacks, according to a U.N. report published on Friday.

The U.N. Assistance Mission to Afghanistan said that 1,013 civilians were killed on the sidelines of the armed conflict from January to the end of June, compared to 818 in the first half of 2008 and 684 in the same period in 2007.

Victory is just around the corner.