8 American Soldiers Die in One Day in Iraq, Most Since 2005

Nine G.I.'s during the weekend. Now we have 8 in one day. Is there any doubt the situation in Iraq has deteriorated:

Four of the soldiers died in a roadside bomb attack; the four others were killed by small-arms fire in separate incidents.

Record attacks:

But the violence has continued, spiking over the last week with the start of the holy month of Ramadan. Military officials said last week that suicide bombings in Baghdad were at a record. At least 17 soldiers and marines have been killed since Saturday, most in Baghdad or Anbar Province, where fierce fighting continues between marines and Sunni insurgents.

Violence against Mosques is climbing:

A government organization responsible for overseeing Shiite mosques issued a report on Tuesday that offered another window into the sectarian violence that has plagued Iraq since the destruction of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February.

In the two and a half years before then, going back to August 2003, there were only 80 attacks on Shiite mosques, the report said. In the eight months since the Samarra bombing, there have been 69. More than 1,700 people have been killed in such attacks since 2003.