The latest news from Iraq is, as always, a mixed bag of tentative progress and horrific violence.

The nation’s prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, announced Wednesday that cabinet positions had been decided, ending weeks of heated debate between religious factions.

But the breakthrough is just one small step toward a fully functional national government, and is tempered by an escalating insurgency that now commits an average of 400 attacks resulting in 420 casualties each week, according to military officials quoted by The Associated Press — the highest levels in nearly a year.

It is apparent, then, that despite the accomplishments made in the voting booth and legislative chamber since the United States turned over control to Iraqis last June, not much has changed on the ground.

For this experiment in Middle East democracy to work, that trend must reverse, and quickly. First and foremost, the insurgency must be stymied.

On Wednesday, insurgents killed a member of the Iraqi National Assembly, their first successful attack on a national legislator, but just the latest in a long line of political murders. If the interim government is to succeed in creating a lasting constitution for Iraq, politicians must be free from intimidation.

It should be painfully obvious by now that the current strategy for achieving this goal — employing an over-extended U.S. military in tandem with an under-trained Iraqi force — is not working. Rather, more sophisticated (and accurate) intelligence to track insurgents and more manpower to root them out is needed.

Intelligence operations in Iraq are “getting better,” according to Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers, as evidenced by the recently reported near capture of insurgency mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. We can only hope Myers is correct in his assessment and that this improving surveillance actually will net insurgent leaders in the weeks and months to come.

The solution to the problem of manpower is even less certain. Ideally, President Bush’s February visit to Europe, along with further prodding, will result in tangible support from continental allies. Without such on-the-ground assistance — or the unacceptable alternatives of troop reconfigurations away from Korea and Afghanistan or a draft — peace is a long way off.

Assuming the insurgency can be turned back, the National Assembly must do its job, too. That means putting aside religious disagreements and forming an inclusive, workable constitution by Aug. 15 and enacting it by Dec. 31.