This time last year, the US finally completed its withdrawal of military forces from Iraq, bringing an end to the war’s regular appearances on television news in America. Terror was virtually non-existent when the US invaded in 2003, and many hoped it would be again after they left.

But the mess made in Iraq has lingered, with terror attacks actually on the rise late this year, as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and other factions get a shot in the arm from the US-backed civil war in neighboring Syria.

The ability of those factions to hit virtually everywhere within Iraq was on display again  today, as bombings nationwide killed at least 92, wounded hundreds of others, and marked the deadliest single day in months.

Strikes targeted army patrols, checkpoints and police stations, and in some cases apparently random civilians, another day of ugly violence in a nation which has seen a solid decade of them now.