The Obama plan for Iraq is to hand over law enforcement to the ‘democratic’ Iraqi government so that American troops can be withdrawn without loss of face.

So how’s it working out?

From the New York Times:

A female suicide bomber attacked a column of Shiite pilgrims on the outskirts of Baghdad on Monday, part of a convulsion of violence that has hit the capital in advance of national elections in March.

At least 41 people died and more than 100 were wounded in the attack, which took place in an industrial district on the northern edge of the city, according to initial reports from security officials, who said the toll could rise…

Hundreds of thousands of Shiites from Iraq, Iran and other countries make their way to Karbala, south of here, during a pilgrimage that marks the end of mourning for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who died in battle in the seventh century.

Many make the journey on foot, which can take days and even weeks, stopping at tents that provide food, water and shelter. They do so in defiance of almost daily attacks that have included gunfire, grenades and bombs.

The processions clog roads headed to Karbala for days ahead of the holiday, Arbaeen, which is Friday. Despite road closings and other measures to heighten security, the attacks continue as relentlessly as the marchers.

The suicide bomber in this case struck near a tent in Bob al-Sham that was filled with pilgrims making their way from Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad. The toll was one of the highest in months by an individual suicide bomber.

The bombing came a week after suicide car bombs devastated three hotels in Baghdad, followed a day later by another against a forensics lab belonging to the Interior Ministry.

The main insurgency group here, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for those attacks, which were highly coordinated and clearly intended to attack the credibility of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s government.

Even as word spread of the Monday attack, a spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command, which oversees security in the capital, announced that “a large number” of 134 officers and soldiers under investigation in the wake of the earlier incidents would face courts-martial for negligence and dereliction of duty.