U.S. soldiers take position during a visit of U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission in Iraq Daniel Speckhard, unseen, to the Azamiyah neighborhood, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 10, 2006.
Iraqi civil defense workers clear the wreckage of a car bomb explosion, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 10, 2006.
Children laugh as a private water distributor fills a tank of a household in the Shiite district of Sadr city in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 10, 2006.
Iraqi policemen inspect the remains of a car used by a suicide bomber, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 9, 2006. Iraqi authorities said police foiled an attempted car suicide bombing against a police station near a mosque in Baghdad's northern Azamiyah neighborhood.
Shiite pilgrims light candles before dawn to mark the birth anniversary of Shiite Imam al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, in Karbala, south of Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 9, 2006.
Iraqi youths view a burnt vehicle after a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 9, 2006. A roadside bomb targeting a police foot patrol in east Baghdad wounded two policemen, while two Iraqi soldiers were wounded by another roadside bomb which had apparently been intended to strike a U.S.-Iraqi convoy in the northern part of the capital, police said.
An Iraqi father comforts his injured son after car bomb attack on a U.S. convoy, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 9, 2006.
U.S. soldiers inspect one of their damaged and burnt armored vehicle after a car bomb attack, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 9, 2006.
Thousands of Shiite pilgrims pray at the Holy Shrine of Imam Hussein to mark the anniversary of the birth of Shiite Imam Al-Mehdi al-Muntadhar, in Karbala, 68 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 8, 2006.
An Iraqi army soldier guards a deserted street with barbed wire during the prayer day vehicle ban in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 8, 2006.
Iraqi children play on a deserted street during the prayer day vehicle ban in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 8, 2006. More than 1,500 people died violently in Baghdad last month, nearly the same number as in July, and not the dramatic drop estimated just last week, when U.S. and Iraqi officials announced that their new security crackdown was working.
Iraqis view the wreckage of a car damaged during a roadside bombing in Baghdad,Iraq, Sept. 8, 2006. A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in eastern Baghdad killed two people and wounded six, police said.
Iraqi women pilgrims talk to Iraqi army soldiers in Karbala, south of Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 7, 2006. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shiites are expected to participate in an annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala to mark the 15th day of Shaaban on Sept. 8 and 9, 2006, the birth anniversary of Shiite Imam Al-Mehdi.
Iraqi men pray at the Imam Abbas Shrine to mark the birth anniversary of Shiite Imam Al-Mehdi, in Karbala, south of Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 7, 2006.
Iraqis look into the wreckage of a car damaged during a bomb explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 7, 2006.
Iraqi firefighters extinguish a fire at gas station, in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 7, 2006.
Iraqi police recruits display combat skills during their graduation ceremony, in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 7, 2006.
Iraqis view wreckage of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 6, 2006. Two bombs exploded within minutes of each other in north Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding 39, police said, a day after the president predicted the bloodshed would be mostly over by the end of next year.
An Iraqi army soldier checks the bag of a pilgrim as she arrives to mark the birth anniversary of Shiite Imam Al-Mehdi, in Karbala, south of Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 5, 2006.
A British helicopter takes off with an soldier injured in a roadside bomb attack, from the site in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 4, 2006.