US warns of rising threat from al-Qaida in Iraq

excerpts from boston.com article by Deb Riechmann / Associated Press / August 15, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top U.S. and Iraqi diplomats warned Thursday of a rising threat in Iraq from al-Qaida, which is carrying out suicide and car bombings with greater frequency nearly two years after U.S. troops withdrew from the country. [...]

"Iraq sits at the intersection of regional currents of increasingly turbulent, violent and unpredictable actions," (Secretary of State John) Kerry said. [...] "And al-Qaida, as we have seen, has launched a horrific series of assaults on innocent Iraqis, even taking credit for the deplorable bombings this past weekend that targeted families that were celebrating the Eid holiday..." [...]

In 2011 and 2012 there was an average of five to 10 suicide bombings a month, according to a senior administration official familiar with Kerry's talks with his Iraqi counterpart. They have averaged about 30 in each of the past three months... [...]

Violence has been on the rise across Iraq since a deadly crackdown by government forces on a Sunni protest camp in April, and attacks against civilians and security forces notably spiked during Ramadan. The surge of attacks has sparked fears that the country could see a new round of sectarian bloodshed similiar to that which brought the country to the edge of civil war in 2006 and 2007. [...]

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Jeremiah predicted that after the invasion and capture of Babylon, land of the Chaldeans -- modern day Iraq -- the king of Babylon, the "Arrogant One" would be punished, and then his cities would burn with fire and as a result the foreign reconstructionists would abandon their efforts and leave the nation to her "judgment."

Is the resurgence of violence the spark that will ignite those fires? Will we soon see Babylon burning?