And meanwhile...

AP:

Despite recent efforts, the violence showed little signs of receding.

At least 104 people were killed or found dead Thursday in Iraq, including at least 10 Sunni men gunned down in the village of Rufayaat, just east of Balad. Balad is a majority Shiite town 50 miles northeast of the Iraqi capital, but it is surrounded by territory that is mainly populated by Sunnis.

And...

Also Thursday, the U.S. announced that four U.S. Marines were killed the day before in fighting in Anbar, an insurgent stronghold. At least 3,114 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an AP count.