Consider the headlines...

* Terrorism prosecutions have fallen back to pre-9/11 levels. A new report notes, "In the eight months ending last May, Justice attorneys declined to prosecute more than nine out of every 10 terrorism cases sent to them by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies."

* Attacks and civilian deaths in Iraq have risen sharply in recent months, with casualties increasing by 1,000 a month, and sectarian violence has engulfed larger areas of the country, the Pentagon said Friday in a strikingly dismal report to Congress.

* The number of roadside bombs, sectarian attacks, and daily strikes have all gone up in Iraq, and a new NIE may be even more startling.

* Ali al-Sistani has now "abandoned attempts to restrain his followers."

* Despite the president's audacious claim that the Taliban "is no longer is in existence," and the president's allies who insist that "things are going swimmingly in Afghanistan," the reality is both of Bush's wars are going in the wrong direction.

– Guest Post by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report