Coalition losing ground in Iraq

The US-led coalition is steadily losing ground in Iraq according to this analysis from the Knight Ridder news service:

All the trend lines we can identify are all in the wrong direction," said Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, a Washington policy research organization. "We are not winning, and the security trend lines could almost lead you to believe that we are losing."

According to today’s Guardian, the US and the UK are looking for an early exit:

Private memos are circulating in Washington, Baghdad and London setting out detailed scenarios for withdrawal of US and British forces from Iraq as early as possible, a Foreign Office source said yesterday.