The increasingly deadly violence in Iraq is forcing the U.S. military to scale back plans to reduce the number of soldiers in Iraq. This according to a report in the New York Times. One officer interviewed by the paper Wednesday said U.S. military involvement in Iraq could last “many years.” Up until a few weeks ago, the military was openly discussing significantly reducing the number of troops from 138,000 as early as next year. But those plans are no longer being discussed. Over the past three weeks, nearly 500 people have died in escalating violence. According to the military, the number of car bombings in Baghdad has soared . Last year there were 25 car bombings–on average two bombings a month. But over the past 80 days there have been 126 bombings in the capital city. In addition, the military announced it has arrested 1,100 suspects in Baghdad alone over the past 80 days. One military officer admitted to the New York Times that the U.S. could fail in Iraq. He said “I think that this could still fail. It’s much more likely to succeed, but it could still fail.” He went on to say “if we let go of the insurgency and take our foot off its throat, then this country could fail and go back into civil war and chaos.”