Iraq Attacks Hit Lowest Level Since 2003

Better Security, Weakened Al Qaeda Credited For Drop; Iraqi Journalist Arrested For Writing About Homosexuality

(CBS/AP)  The number of attacks in Iraq has dropped to the lowest level since 2003 despite a recent spate of high-profile bombings, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq said Wednesday.

Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin blamed several attacks over the past few days on al Qaeda in Iraq and warned insurgents would continue to try to chip away at growing public confidence in security gains.

The commander credited part of the drop in violence to an increase in the number of Iraqi security forces on the streets as well as to the arrest of a number of key al Qaeda figures in recent months.

"November saw fewer attacks than any month since 2003," Austin said at a news conference in the U.S.-protected Green Zone. "We have significantly degraded al Qaeda's ability to plan, to resource and to capitalize on ruthless attacks on the Iraqi people."

He also expressed confidence that the transition to increased Iraqi oversight in U.S. military operations would be smooth under a new security pact that was approved last week by the Iraqi parliament.

Iraq's three-member presidential council still must approve the agreement, which will allow American forces to stay in the country for three more years after a U.N. mandate expires on Dec. 31.

An official with the council led by President Jalal Talabani said the pact had been received on Monday and would be considered valid if no objections are registered within 10 days. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Proponents of the deal have warned that Iraqis aren't ready to take over their own security. Opponents, led by the Sadrists, say the American presence is the main reason for the instability plaguing the country.

Since the security pact was signed a series of bombings have targeted Iraqi police checkpoints, government buildings and schools, as well as a police academy, and killed dozens of people in Baghdad and areas to the north and south.

Government workers have also been targeted with bombs placed in buses and other vehicles transporting them to work.

A so-called sticky bomb attached to a minibus carrying Education Ministry employees exploded on Wednesday, killing at least one civilian and wounding five others in eastern Baghdad, police said.

Another such bomb attached to a car exploded near the entrance of the heavily fortified Green Zone, wounding the driver, an Iraqi contractor working with U.S. forces, said an Iraqi police officer. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because we was not authorized to release details. The U.S. military confirmed the explosion and the injury.

"What you've seen in the last several days is an attempt by al Qaeda and others to conduct high-profile attempts that are really aimed at intimidating the civilian population" and drawing media attention, Austin said.

"Their intent is to erode the confidence of civilians and Iraqi security forces to create a picture that things are not going in the right direction."

In related news:

International media watchdog groups called Wednesday for the release of a freelance journalist jailed in northern Iraq for violating a public decency law by writing a story about homosexuality.

Adel Hussein was sentenced Nov. 24 to six months in jail by a court in Irbil, capital of the Kurdish-ruled region of northern Iraq, according to the Committee To Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders.

The case centers on an April 2007 article Hussein wrote for the independent weekly Hawlati that detailed the physical effects of homosexual sex, the organizations said.

Hussein also was ordered to pay a fine of about $106, the organizations said. He is being held at Mahata prison in Irbil, about 220 miles north of Baghdad.

"We are astonished to learn that a press case has been tried under the criminal code. What was the point of adopting - and then liberalizing - a press code in the Kurdistan region if people who contribute to the news media are still be tried under more repressive laws," Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.

[jgunther7]

This picture looks like something out of star wars. The heavily armoured Imperial soldiers stifly amble about pointing guns at the poor subjugated victems. It must be a terrible experiance being liberated by the US army.

[downsteamjim]

Obama must work fast or we will be successful in Iraq.

[chalres-2009]

CBSisPravda1 You have got to be kidding me. Where have you been. How got us into this mess? Obama! I think not. If you don''t have anything intelligent to say, say nothing.

[inketolstoy]

Sure, attacks are down, violence is up.....

We talking about Chicago, Wal-Mart, Iraq? I get so confused.

[earache4]

Oils well that ends well...

Bring the troops home NOW!

[earache4]

Sure, attacks are down, violence is up.....

[earache4]

Death Toll Rises In Iraq Mosque Bombing
At Least 12 Dead In Suicide Bomb Attack On Shiite Mosque
BAGHDAD, Nov. 29, 2008

[earache4]

Scores Dead In String Of Iraq Blasts
Double-Bombing In Baghdad Targeted Police Recruits; Car Bomb In Mosul Kills At Least 16
BAGHDAD, Dec. 1, 2008

[earache4]

2003? You mean before the oil war started?

[petro49l]

Al Qada Iraq is defeated. Baghdad has thwarted Bin Laden''s attempt to destabilize the country. Iraq is a successful police state.

[bailthisout]

We have significantly degraded al Qaedas ability to plan, to resource and to capitalize on ruthless attacks on the Iraqi people. DO YOU HEAR THAT LIBS?
Posted by BailThisOut at 12:05 PM : Dec 03, 2008

Bah ha ha -- That would be great if Al Quaida was even in Iraq in the first place. Seems like there are more there now then there were b4 we attacked. Stick that in ur pipe and smoke it.
Also Iraq didnt have anything to do with 9-11 Bah ha ha. Iraq was safer before 2003 than it is now bah ha ha.
---------------------------------------
Posted by used2bfedup1

That was the beauty of bringing the enemy out of the mountains so that we could defeat them. Not too swift on military tactics are you?
Plus your ignorance about Iraq is funny since you have never been there and just read about the situation there? Truly funny

[used2bfedup1]

We have significantly degraded al Qaedas ability to plan, to resource and to capitalize on ruthless attacks on the Iraqi people. DO YOU HEAR THAT LIBS?

Posted by BailThisOut at 12:05 PM : Dec 03, 2008

Bah ha ha -- That would be great if Al Quaida was even in Iraq in the first place. Seems like there are more there now then there were b4 we attacked. Stick that in ur pipe and smoke it.

Also Iraq didnt have anything to do with 9-11 Bah ha ha. Iraq was safer before 2003 than it is now bah ha ha.

Cmon are u still going on about Obamas birth certificate. The only thing that is thickening is the grey matter between your ears.

[c-mo6]

Thousands of soldiers have died in a needless. We''re winning a game we shouldn''t have even been playing. No wmd''s but hey at least were winning.

[libsh8theusa]

BailThisOut They don''t hear that.. they are to worried about Obama Birth Cert.. and his lack of being able to prove that he was born in the US..

Bah ha ha..

That would just be to funny.. Then the ? would be is Joe Bide the Pres.. or does the US have to pay for another election.. Or do the Libs have to foot the bill seeing how they appointed Obama to be their man.. I think it would be GREAT if the libs would have to foot the bill..

Bah ha ha ha..

Life is good and getting better everyday.. the plot thickens..

[bailthisout]

We have significantly degraded al Qaedas ability to plan, to resource and to capitalize on ruthless attacks on the Iraqi people. DO YOU HEAR THAT LIBS?

[libsh8theusa]

Fewer attacks.. yet the libs say we aren''t winning..

Bah ha ha