U.S.: Iraq Rocket, Mortar Attacks Hit Low

Military Says Incidents Are At Lowest Level In 21 Months Thanks To Iraqi Help

(AP)  Rocket and mortar attacks in Iraq have decreased to their lowest levels in more than 21 months, the U.S. military said Monday. In the capital, Iraqi officials said a taxi driver was shot dead by a private security guard hired to protect U.S. convoys.

Last month saw 369 "indirect fire" attacks - the lowest number since February 2006. October's total was half of what it was in the same month a year ago. And it marked the third month in a row of sharply reduced insurgent activity, the military said.

The U.S. command issued the tallies a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said suicide attacks and other bombings in Baghdad also have dropped dramatically, calling it an end of sectarian violence.

Despite the drop in violence, the capital remains tense and al-Maliki and other Iraqi and foreign officials are under heavy protection.

Embassy spokesman Philip T. Reeker said the company involved in Saturday's shooting was DynCorp International, one of three firms contracted to protect American officials in Iraq.

Reeker could not confirm anyone had died, and he would not say who the seven-vehicle convoy was carrying nor give its destination.

"They reported that a private vehicle approached the convoy, and continued to approach to the point where a member of the PSD used his weapon to disable the vehicle," Reeker told reporters on a regular conference call from Baghdad, using the acronym for private security detail.

Iraqis have grown increasingly angry at what they believe are unprovoked killings by contractors hired to protect Americans here. In September, another shooting left 17 Iraqis dead and prompted the Iraqi government to call for the expulsion of the firm involved, Blackwater Worldwide.

The taxi driver was shot in the head and chest, the police officer said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf also said the man had died.

Afterward, police searched the man's taxi and found no weapons nor any other evidence of suspicious activity, the officer said. The convoy did not stop for the investigation, he said.

Total rocket and mortar attacks rose steadily from 808 in January 2007 to a peak of 1,032 in June, before falling over the next four months, a U.S. military statement said Monday. That decline also was seen in Baghdad, where such attacks rose from 139 in January to 224 in June, and then fell to only 53 attacks in October, it said.

The Iraqi spokesman for a U.S.-Iraqi push to pacify the capital said the decline in violence would allow the government to reopen 10 roads later this month.

"This will help reduce traffic jams and citizens will feel life returning to normal," Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi told Iraqi state television.

Associated Press figures show a sharp drop in the number of U.S. and Iraqi deaths across the country in the past few months. The number of Iraqis who met violent deaths dropped from at least 1,023 in September to at least 905 in October, according to an AP count.

The number of American military deaths fell from 65 to at least 39 over the same period.

Before the arrival of nearly 30,000 U.S. reinforcements this past spring, explosions shook Baghdad daily - sometimes hourly. Mortar and rocket fire were frequent as was the rhythm of gunfire.

Now the sounds of warfare are rare. American troops have set up small outposts in some of the capital's most dangerous enclaves. Locals previously lukewarm to the presence of U.S. soldiers patrol alongside them. And a historic lane on the eastern banks of the Tigris is set to reopen later this year, lined with seafood restaurants and an art gallery.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of U.S. forces south of the capital, said Sunday he believed the decrease would hold, because of what he called a "groundswell" of support from regular Iraqis.

"If we didn't have so many people coming forward to help, I'd think this is a flash in the pan. But that's just not the case," Lynch told a small group of reporters over lunch in the Green Zone.

He attributed the sharp drop in attacks to the American troop buildup, the setup of small outposts at the heart of Iraqi communities, and help from thousands of locals fed up with al Qaeda and other extremists.

"These people - Sunni and Shiite - are saying, `I've had enough,"' Lynch said.

[speakinup]

"They are just reloading. The US forces have found and destroyed large stockpiles of weapons as of late, and the insurgents have yet to replace them. Posted by Nancy_Naive

Sure, sure - and if you believe that you are probably as hopful as the Japanese soldier WWII that surrendered in 1980.

Go back to your reservation Nancy. Open the Casino and fireworks stand.

[speakinup]

"No thanks to the liberals - no wonder they don''''''''t want to be called liberals."
- Posted by speakinup at 07:52 PM : Nov 12, 2007

"When was the last time anyone identified himself as a Neocon ? Posted by Iceman_1960

I proudly wear the title. It is only in the minds of far left liberals that ''neoconservative'' is a bad word.

NOW, as far as ''liberal'' goes, it appears NO ONE wants THAT title. Least of all, Hillary, who is trying to disguise herself as a middle of the road politician.

NOTE - how many articles do you see where the Republicans are fighting for the person that best fits ''Conservative''; and, how many Democrats do you see fighting for the right to be called ''Liberal'' ?

None.

[speakinup]

"The falling numbers of US deaths have also been subjected to merciless spinning. Yet already more US troops have been killed in Iraq in 2007 than in all of 2006." Feelfree

Which only goes to prove a point if 2007, so far, has cost us more in troops than ALL of 2006, and troop losses in recent months are hitting lows not seen in 24 months - what does that tell you ?

THAT THE CURRENT TACTICS AND METHODS ARE WORKING EVEN BETTER THAN PREVIOUSLY REPORTED!!!!!

[feelfree1]

Re: "Iraqi officials said a taxi driver was shot dead by a private security guard (Dyncorp) hired to protect U.S. convoys."

The mercenaries at Dyncorp are doing their share, to murder Iraqis for money. It''s not just for Blackwater anymore.

[feelfree1]

Related:

Re: "The falling numbers of US deaths have also been subjected to merciless spinning. Yet already more US troops have been killed in Iraq in 2007 than in all of 2006."

"Once again, Baghdad residents, who daily have to negotiate life in hell, reveal what''s going on. Lately, as a Shi''ite businessman says, "We have not seen the Americans. They used to come to my neighborhood almost every day at night, with Humvees and Bradleys. They stopped at the end of September." This means less US-conducted dangerous "missions" in the Baghdad wasteland - with less exposure to snipers and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) - and more time spent in ultra-fortified bases."

"Anyway, whenever there is a mission in Baghdad now it inevitably means an air strike. Mega-slum Sadr City residents confirm the US keeps attacking alleged Mahdi Army "terrorist" haunts - but mostly from the air."

"With the US corporate media operating virtually like a Pentagon information agency, the only news fit to print is that as of early this week there were 3,855 American dead in Iraq. But most of all - and never mentioned - there were 28,451 wounded in combat. And as of October 1, there were no less than 30,294 military victims of accidents and diseases so serious they had to be medically sent out of Iraq."

www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IK10Ak03.html

[iceman_1960]

"No thanks to the liberals - no wonder they don''''t want to be called liberals."
- Posted by speakinup at 07:52 PM : Nov 12, 2007

When was the last time anyone identified himself as a Neocon ?

[iceman_1960]

Reverse Surge ?

This is good news, providing it isn"t just timed for the November 2008 election:

"US military reversing Iraq troop surge

WASHINGTON [AP] - The first big test of security gains linked to the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is at hand. The military has started to reverse the 30,000-strong troop increase and commanders are hoping the drop in insurgent and sectarian violence in recent months - achieved at the cost of hundreds of lives - won"t prove fleeting.

The current total of 20 combat brigades is shrinking to 19 as the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, operating in volatile Diyala province, leaves. The U.S. command in Baghdad announced on Saturday that the brigade had begun heading home to Fort Hood, Texas, and that its battle space will be taken by another brigade already operating in Iraq.

Between January and July - on a schedule not yet made public - the force is to shrink further to 15 brigades. The total number of U.S. troops will likely go from 167,000 now to 140,000-145,000 by July, six months before President Bush leaves office and a new commander in chief enters the White House."

Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071113/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_security_gains

[speakinup]

Why - I remember the days when Princowhales was trying to conviince us this was a civil war, and that it couldn''t be won.

Gee, casualties down, Mortar attacks at low ebb, the people are starting to turn in militants.

What next ? Maybe we''ll be coming home soon, huh?!?

No thanks to the liberals - no wonder they don''t want to be called liberals.