Limits of the "Surge" are showing as the city of Samarra lies in ruins

Samarra shows the limits of the U.S. surge, which has brought a modicum of calm to cities such as Fallujah , Baghdad and Ramadi. No additional troops have been sent here, no Sunni leader is stepping forward to rally his forces against foreign fighters, and there are no promises to rebuild.

The golden-domed al Askariya Mosque, which was destroyed in a February 2006 bombing that brought simmering sectarian violence to a boil, remains closed, engulfed by untouched mountains of rubble.

Blocks of shops around it also are closed, and there are no shoppers, much less religious pilgrims.

Al Qaida in Iraq , the radical Islamist group that's been vanquished in much of the country by an alliance between U.S. troops and Sunni Muslim tribesmen, remains a power to be reckoned with. There's been no surge of U.S. troops and no local leader willing to take on al Qaida. In fact, there are only 700 soldiers to hold this town of 90,000 residents, and the 2,000 Shiite police sent here to help are widely distrusted by the residents.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20071204/wl_mcclatchy/2772621