U.S. reports 80 percent drop in Iraq insurgency attacks
BAGHDAD — The U.S. Army has reported a sharp decrease in insurgency attacks in Baghdad.
In the week of Feb. 24 to March 2, officials said, insurgency strikes and suicide bombings dropped for the fourth consecutive week in Baghdad. They linked this to the steady increase of security patrols in the city.
The army said violence has decreased by 80 percent in the most insurgency-ridden areas of Baghdad. Officials said Shi'ite and Sunni insurgents have been overwhelmed by the current joint Iraqi-U.S. operation in the Iraqi capital.
However as Shi'ite fighters have gone underground, Sunnis have launched a campaign of car bombings and other violence against Shi'ite civilians.
Brig. Gen. John Campbell, deputy commander of Multi-National Division-Baghdad, told a briefing on March 6 that 19 people were killed in insurgency strikes in Baghdad in February 2007. Campbell said 254 were slain in the city in December 2006.
Campbell said Iraqi and U.S. forces have been raiding insurgency strongholds and capturing weapons caches. He said that from Feb. 24 to March 2, the forces seized 74 weapon caches. This exceeded the previous week's total by 11.
Officials said the security operation in Baghdad has increased the coalition presence in insurgency-ridden neighborhoods. They said Shi'ite insurgents, particularly those from the Iranian-sponsored Mahdi Army, have gone underground, leaving the Iraqi-U.S. forces to battle Sunni fighters.
This can be interpreted two ways. The first is that this is great news as less people are dying. The second is, it appears that the shi'ite militias are well organized and know they just have to bide their time before leftwing nuts in congress force us to lose in Iraq. Once that happens, it will all break loose over there and full-out civil war will ensue.
