There has been a resurgence of suicide bombings in Iraq.  Why, when we’re going to leave?

This is the first shot in a potential civil war between Shiites and Sunnis.  Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is Sunni and the suicide attacks, which are their hallmark, are aimed at Shiites. Al Qaeda is hoping to provoke a crackdown on the Sunnis by the Shiites.  This, they hope, radicalizes the Sunni population which then joins them in the civil war.

But there is a bigger picture.  Al Qaeda wants the US to stay in Iraq, not leave.  They hope to drag America in and get the population to see Americans as the common enemy.  War with America is a bigger aim than civil war in Iraq.  Unfortunately, if Al Qaeda in Iraq is powerful then it might be in best interests of the US to stay in.  A civil war in Iraq would draw in Iran and then who knows what happens in the region further along.