http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080312/...sa_violence_dc

As the surge ends; the results will be evident.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq has seen some increased violence since January, including suicide and car bombings, despite a sharp overall decline in attacks in the past eight months, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

The rise in violence was partly as a result of recent U.S.-led offensives against Islamist militants, including al Qaeda in Iraq, the Defense Department said in its latest quarterly report on the war.


The Pentagon noted a rise in security incidents since January in Nineveh and Diyala provinces and other areas where it said al Qaeda in Iraq militants have flocked since being driven from former strongholds by U.S.-allied Sunni tribesmen.

The report called the increased violence a "short term" result of military operations against insurgents that began in January.

"In January 2008, high-profile attacks rose for the first time in five months as a result of a slight increase in person-borne IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and a slight increase in vehicle-borne IED's," the report said.

Charts of attack data in the report showed the increase in such bombings extending into February with a small rise in civilian deaths for the same period.



However, in assessing the overall trend of the war, the report echoed the Bush administration's stance that a U.S. troop increase that started last year has paid dividends by broadly dampening much of the violence in Iraq. Critics of the war opposed the troop increase.

Since June, when the last combat brigade in President George W. Bush's so-called surge strategy arrived in Iraq, deaths from sectarian violence have fallen 90 percent, the report said.

Total civilian deaths were down more than 70 percent over the same period, the report said, giving only percentages and not actual figures.

"Key indicators are at levels last seen consistently in mid-2005, with indirect fire attacks at levels not seen since early 2004," the report said.






Just to highlight some of the points of the report from the article...

The Headline of the article is misleading. Probably intentionally.

__________________
McCain/Palin 2008
"We make war that we may live in peace"
"Peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
"Keep that faith,keep your courage,stick together, stay strong,do not yield,do not flinch,stand up,we're Americans,we'll never surrender they will"
http://members.cox.net/neddy/bobhope_kerfuffles.wmv
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RnfflRNpwKA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j-QYIP7o2-A

ooopssss....

__________________
McCain/Palin 2008
"We make war that we may live in peace"
"Peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
"Keep that faith,keep your courage,stick together, stay strong,do not yield,do not flinch,stand up,we're Americans,we'll never surrender they will"
http://members.cox.net/neddy/bobhope_kerfuffles.wmv
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RnfflRNpwKA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j-QYIP7o2-A

Just to point out how the goal posts keep moving.

The report doesn't include the latest wave of attacks that have killed nearly 100 Iraqis.

20 Iraq's here 100 there , who cares . As long as americans arent dying it's o.k. . Righrt John MCcain!?

And thus another post which appears to be diametrically opposed to the recent reports of lower amounts violence as a result of the surge.

__________________
We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. -- Ann Coulter

Have you been paying attention? Violence is on the uptick again, as the surge is ending.

But, of course, if you've been counting chickens before they hatch, calling the surge a success and whatnot, it must be a shock.

Of course you are going to spin whatever news come out of Iraq in a bad light. If you didn't, it wouldn't serve your purpose of portraying the war as a defeat, lost, ill-conceived ect. You have a vested interest in seeing to it that the rest of America believes your propeganda so that your candidate in the defeatocrat party has any chance of winning. Can't wait till Obama bin Laden gets into the oval office so that he can wave the white flag of surrender can you?

__________________
We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. -- Ann Coulter

No, I simply don't count chickens before they hatch.



Unfortunately, official policy has been doing exactly that since the war began.



Certainly, there has been an ebb in violence as a result of the surge, but it's becoming increasingly unlikely that the surge led to any permanent change.

Yet, the right continues to make claims that we're "winning" again.


It's just mission accomplished, done over again.

So naturally, it would be better if we cut and run.

__________________
We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. -- Ann Coulter