256 people killed in Iraq so far this month, 325, last month

A series of attacks across Iraq on Sunday killed ten people, including three soldiers and two policemen, the AFP reported.

256 people have been killed in attacks across the country so far this month, according to an AFP tally. In July, 325 people were killed, the highest monthly death toll in almost two years.

The horrific violence over the last couple of months comes on the heels of a statement, last month, by the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, warning that the militant network had embarked on a new offensive and was returning to strongholds from which it was driven from while the American military was there. He also threatened the U.S.: "You will see them [al Qaeda terrorists] at the heart of your country, since our war against you has just started," he said.

President Obama strongly opposed a plan to leave behind a residual U.S. force in Iraq after the U.S. troop withdrawal ended in December. Many Iraqi's, however, have expressed concern that without a residual U.S. military presense in Iraq, the security gains made in recent years could evaporate.

Nevertheless, despite the re-emergence of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the recent spike in violence across the country, President Obama continues to brag on the campaign stump about his inept and disastrous Iraq policy.