Strychnine
01-01-2008, 07:10 PM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22287314/
General: Iraq at its quietest since '04
By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 25 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - Violence in Iraq is at its lowest levels since the first year of the American invasion, finally opening a window for reconciliation among rival sects, the second-ranking U.S. general said Sunday as Iraqi forces formally took control of security across half the country.
Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the man responsible for the ground campaign in Iraq, said that the first six months of 2007 were probably the most violent period since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The past six months, however, had seen some of the lowest levels of violence since the conflict began, Odierno said, attributing the change to an increase in both American troops and better-trained Iraqi forces.
"I feel we are back in '03 and early '04. Frankly I was here then, and the environment is about the same in terms of security in my opinion," he said. "What is different from then is that the Iraqi security forces are significantly more mature."
Violence killed at least 27 Iraqis on Sunday — 16 of them members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol killed in clashes with al-Qaida in a volatile province neighboring Baghdad. Thirty-five al-Qaida fighters also died in that fighting, Iraqi officials said.
Odierno said Anbar province, once plagued by violence, only recorded 12 attacks in the past week, down from an average of 26 per week over the past three months.
"The violence last week was the lowest ever," he said of Anbar.
"So that kind of defines 2007 very simply. A long hard fight and a lot of sacrifice by a lot of soldiers, Marines and airmen to get there," Odierno said.
A planned reduction of troops to about 130,000 at the end of next year from a high of around 165,000 at the height of the "surge" should not derail that effort, but Iraq's government must take advantage of the improved security, Odierno said. There are 154,000 U.S. troops in Iraq now.
"We have a window, I don't know how long that window is, but there is a window because of the security to move forward," Odierno told a small group of journalists at his headquarters in Baghdad. "We need to get policies in place by the central government to do this."
While at the same time... http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/stroked71/SET%20Golf%20-%20Conley%20Group/smiley_freak.gif http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/stroked71/SET%20Golf%20-%20Conley%20Group/anim_rofl-2.gif
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-12-16-zawahri-video_N.htm
Al-Zawahri video: US failing in Iraq
Al-Qaida's No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri said in a new video posted Monday that the United States is trying to hide its failures in Iraq and warned that the mujahedeen there are increasing in strength.
"We are seeing a triple failure for the Americans in Iraq," al-Zawahri said in the 90-minute videotape. "No matter how much the gigantic propaganda machine in America tries to deceive the people, the reality is stronger and worse than all the deceptions."
He said U.S. forces were "defeated and looking for a way out," and Iraqi forces were unable to keep security.
Al-Zawahri denounced Sunni Arab tribal forces that the U.S. has backed in the fight against insurgent groups, calling them "traitors" to whom the Americans "pour oceans of bribes."
"The reports from Iraq tell of the growth of the mujahedeen and the collapse of the Americans' circumstances," al-Zawahri said.
He spoke in an interview with Al-Sahab, the media arm of al-Qaida. In the footage, al-Zawahri — wearing a white turban and robes — sat in front of shelves of Islamic theology and law books, answering questions from an unseen interviewer.
General: Iraq at its quietest since '04
By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 25 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - Violence in Iraq is at its lowest levels since the first year of the American invasion, finally opening a window for reconciliation among rival sects, the second-ranking U.S. general said Sunday as Iraqi forces formally took control of security across half the country.
Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the man responsible for the ground campaign in Iraq, said that the first six months of 2007 were probably the most violent period since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The past six months, however, had seen some of the lowest levels of violence since the conflict began, Odierno said, attributing the change to an increase in both American troops and better-trained Iraqi forces.
"I feel we are back in '03 and early '04. Frankly I was here then, and the environment is about the same in terms of security in my opinion," he said. "What is different from then is that the Iraqi security forces are significantly more mature."
Violence killed at least 27 Iraqis on Sunday — 16 of them members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol killed in clashes with al-Qaida in a volatile province neighboring Baghdad. Thirty-five al-Qaida fighters also died in that fighting, Iraqi officials said.
Odierno said Anbar province, once plagued by violence, only recorded 12 attacks in the past week, down from an average of 26 per week over the past three months.
"The violence last week was the lowest ever," he said of Anbar.
"So that kind of defines 2007 very simply. A long hard fight and a lot of sacrifice by a lot of soldiers, Marines and airmen to get there," Odierno said.
A planned reduction of troops to about 130,000 at the end of next year from a high of around 165,000 at the height of the "surge" should not derail that effort, but Iraq's government must take advantage of the improved security, Odierno said. There are 154,000 U.S. troops in Iraq now.
"We have a window, I don't know how long that window is, but there is a window because of the security to move forward," Odierno told a small group of journalists at his headquarters in Baghdad. "We need to get policies in place by the central government to do this."
While at the same time... http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/stroked71/SET%20Golf%20-%20Conley%20Group/smiley_freak.gif http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/stroked71/SET%20Golf%20-%20Conley%20Group/anim_rofl-2.gif
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-12-16-zawahri-video_N.htm
Al-Zawahri video: US failing in Iraq
Al-Qaida's No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri said in a new video posted Monday that the United States is trying to hide its failures in Iraq and warned that the mujahedeen there are increasing in strength.
"We are seeing a triple failure for the Americans in Iraq," al-Zawahri said in the 90-minute videotape. "No matter how much the gigantic propaganda machine in America tries to deceive the people, the reality is stronger and worse than all the deceptions."
He said U.S. forces were "defeated and looking for a way out," and Iraqi forces were unable to keep security.
Al-Zawahri denounced Sunni Arab tribal forces that the U.S. has backed in the fight against insurgent groups, calling them "traitors" to whom the Americans "pour oceans of bribes."
"The reports from Iraq tell of the growth of the mujahedeen and the collapse of the Americans' circumstances," al-Zawahri said.
He spoke in an interview with Al-Sahab, the media arm of al-Qaida. In the footage, al-Zawahri — wearing a white turban and robes — sat in front of shelves of Islamic theology and law books, answering questions from an unseen interviewer.