Reply #2: As of this past Friday...It's not working!

[Tellurian]

Iraq 'surge' has little impact so far

BAGHDAD, Iran, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- The controversial "surge" of U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad is getting off to a slow start, the Los Angeles Times reports.

About 5,000 troops have arrived in the city since President George W. Bush announced the plan in January. But few of the 6 million residents of Baghdad appear to feel more secure.

"The situation is the same or worse," Hameed Abdullah, a resident of southern Baghdad, told the Times.

Abdullah said most of the stores in his neighborhood remain shuttered and cars are not searched at checkpoints.
Five new brigades of U.S. troops are supposed to be deployed to Baghdad, with one arriving each month through May. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he will look at ways to speed up the deployment, but a senior Pentagon official said that is not possible.

Violence in Iraq has ratcheted up since Bush's speech on his change in strategy. More than 1,000 Iraqis and 33 U.S. soldiers and Marines have died in the past week.