Iraq: How Will It End?

(CBS)  For a snapshot of the Iraq invasion plus three years, take last Monday.

In the aftermath of a deadly car bomb attack on a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad, renewed fear of civil war and more killing surfaced.

CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Martha Teichner focuses on last Monday because it was also the day President Bush launched his latest campaign to rally support for staying the course in Iraq.

"The situation is still tense and we're still seeing acts of sectarian violence and reprisal, yet out of this crisis we've also seen signs of a hopeful future.

Such signs include the swearing-in of the new democratically-elected Iraqi parliament this past week after 12 million Iraqis turned out to vote in December's election.

Also, the U.S. Department of Defense reported that more than 240,000 Iraqi security forces and police are now trained and equipped to fight the insurgency.

That's the good news.

The bad news: during the last three months, based on press reports, on average there are 75 insurgent attacks a day.

A few weeks after Saddam Hussein's statue came down, the number of insurgents, thought then to be 5,000 maximum, is now estimated to be at least 20,000.

When President Bush made his "Mission Accomplished" speech nearly three years ago, more than 7 out of 10 Americans approved his handling of Iraq, according to a CBS News poll.

In a new poll, out last week, just over 3 in 10 did.

Asked whether the war has been worth the cost, 70 percent of those polled said no.

There are multiple costs.

The cost in lives: more than 2,300 American servicemen and women, as of Saturday, and at least 30,000 Iraqi civilians. And the wounded, more than 17,000 Americans.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page »