The “insurgency” is getting smarter. Or changing tactics again. Or moving their operational locations. Or all of the above.

With April having passed as one of the bloodiest months in Iraq for U.S. troops, May isn’t shaping up much better. This morning comes word that 5 American soldiers were killed, and 3 were apparently captured. Reports are all over the roadmap at this point as to location of the killings and abductions - AP is reporting “Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad”, and AFP is reporting somewhere near Fallujah (which is northeast of Baghdad). Or, maybe these are separate incidents? Hard to tell at this time…

Regardless, the body count continues to rise, and American troops continue to play whack-a-mole with an insurgency that knows the terrain a whole lot better than does the U.S. military command.

From the AP report:

An attack on a unit of U.S.-led forces patrolling outside the Iraqi capital before dawn left five soldiers dead and three missing, the military said.

The attack on the patrol of seven U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter soldier occurred near Mahmoudiya, in a Sunni insurgent stronghold about 20 miles south of Baghdad, the military said…

Obviously, this report was filed from the Green Zone Bar and Grille, so take it with a grain of salt, as I’m sure that information will evolve during the day - but it seems like something’s definitely up in Iraq today - and if the news is this bad early on, I’m sure the actual situation on the ground is worse.

So, Mr. and Mrs. Congressional Representative, any chance that you’ll vote to get us out of this mess sometime soon?