The data, obtained by Reuters from the Defense Department, showed an upward trend in daily attacks over the past four months, when U.S. and Iraqi forces were ramping up operations against insurgents and militants, including al Qaeda, in Iraq.

If I were to say, "well DUH," would you understand why? Look up the term "ramping up."

Now, let's look at "fun with statistics."

"Daily attacks in Iraq hit new high," screams the headline, which is all a lot of people will read. Most will not notice that they had to switch the statistic to "average daily attacks" and correct from a 31 day month to a 30 day month to make this come out true. Does not exactly imply a huge increase, does it? 176.5 skyrocketing to 177.8. That includes all attacks, unsuccessful or otherwise. Somebody takes a single shot and misses, it counts.

Somebody in the newsroom is reaching a bit if you ask me.

Note also the significant decline in Iraqi civilian casualties grudgingly tacked on to the end of the article--an 18 percent drop as opposed to a 1 percent increase. But then "Civilian Casualties in Iraq Drop 18 percent" is not the sort of headline the media is looking for.