Still, the increase in troops seemed to be working, for a while. General Casey, among others, spoke positively of the results and he appeared to be backed up by the situation on the ground. In August, the number of attacks and of American, insurgent and sectarian deaths was down sharply.

Then, after 30 days or so, something went terribly wrong. The trend reversed. As we moved into late September, the fall of 2006 became one of the deadliest periods of the entire war for Americans and Iraqis alike. It appears that those who wish the slaughter to continue are very adaptable to changing conditions.

If that model holds up - and no one knows if it will - and if the troops are put in all at once and not piecemeal, and if the promised Iraqi troops arrive on time and ready to serve, and if the civilian contract security forces - mostly Americans - remain in place, the increase should work. Since this increase is more than two times the size of the one last summer, this pause should last more than two months.

After that, if past is prologue, the various participants in this civil war will adjust, regroup, find the weak spots in our new tactics and get back to their murderous business. They have all the time in the world.

Which brings me to the point that has puzzled me. When will all those in the killing fields finally run out of their own people to torture, murder and blow up? The numbers are staggering. Even in a city of 6 million people, targets are, after all, finite. The number of young men found every day, bound and tortured before being killed, goes from 40 to three times that number, and that doesn't include the random bombings that take the lives of men, women, children, old people, everyone. How many are left to kill?

We also hear widely differing estimates of how many Iraqis have simply left the country. Is it half a million? A million? Two? Is it possible that 10 percent of the population has melted away to Iran, Syria, Jordan? The pool of potential victims has certainly been reduced in the most horrific way imaginable. By murdering them or driving them from their homes. Those of us left to witness it all wonder if there is a point at which blood lust is satisfied and the combatants, exhausted, simply go home.

Another startling revelation came out of those hearings. It was stated - and not denied - that 60 percent of all the attacks made throughout Iraq every day are directed at American and coalition forces.

That begs the question - which was not asked - whether removing American and coalition forces would lower the violence in the country by 60 percent. If so, it seems that would constitute a victory.

Meanwhile, the Senate appears close to a bipartisan resolution expressing disapproval of the troop increase. Some say such a document is an empty exercise. I disagree. It will not impede the administration's escalation of the war. But it will put on record the fact that the president does so against the will of the majority of the representatives of the people, freely expressed in a recent election. In many parliaments around the world, it would seem as a vote of "no confidence."

While all this works its glacial way through the process, we ordinary Americans hope and pray for the safety of our troops facing mortal danger and, yes, of Iraqi civilians, too.

If we get that two-month respite, perhaps it will be time enough for someone in power to find the words and the courage to declare victory and stop the carnage.

Nick Clooney writes for The Post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mails sent to Nick at nickclooney@cincypost.com will be forwarded to him via regular mail.