  Valentine's Day was the ''or else'' deadline set by the
Baghdad government for the jihadist militants in control of the
western city to lay down their arms or face a ground assault by
Iraqi forces, who have been massing around the provincial centre
for weeks.  Nouri al-Maliki is at heart like his predecessor,
Saddam Hussein.   As it was before, Falluja is again at the
heart of unrest in the new Iraq. But just because most other
outbursts of violence in the country are reduced to ''in-
brief''' treatment in the Western media, it would be a mistake
to presume all is well.  The latest count by the UN Assistance
Mission for Iraq puts the country-wide death toll from attacks
last year at 7818 civilians and 1050 of the security forces - a
total of 8868, which makes it the bloodiest year in Iraq since
2008.  That 2008 marker is important. That was when the body
count fell after George W. Bush ''surged'' thousands more US
troops into Iraq, which coincided with a decision by the Sunni
tribes to fight with the America