Increased dangers in past year

 In an indication of the dangers for the American military in Iraq, a U.S. watchdog group warned that the nation is more dangerous than it was a year ago.

 “Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work,” Stuart Bowen, chief of the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, said in a report. “It is less safe, in my judgment, than 12 months ago.”

 The report notes that 44 Iraqi government and security officials have been assassinated since April.

 It also draws attention to the rocket attacks on the American Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone enclave and a deadly bomb blast July 7 that killed two U.S. troops near an entrance to Camp Victory, the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq.