Pentagon: Iraqi violence still rising

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

Pentagon: Iraqi violence still rising
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - Violence in Iraq, as measured by casualties among troops and civilians, has edged higher despite the U.S.-led security push in Baghdad, the Pentagon told Congress on Wednesday.

In its required quarterly report on security, political and economic developments in Iraq, covering the February-May period, the Pentagon also raised questions about Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's ability to fulfill a pledge made in January to prohibit political interference in security operations and to allow no safe havens for sectarian militias.

Overall, however, the report said it was too soon to judge whether the security crackdown was working.

The security operation was launched Feb. 14 and is still unfolding as the last of an additional 28,000 or so U.S. forces are getting into position in and around the Iraqi capital. The Pentagon is required by Congress to provide its initial assessment of the operation in July, and Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has said he will report in September.

Wednesday's broader report, the eighth in a series, said that while violence fell in the capital and in Anbar province west of Baghdad during the February-May period, it increased in other areas, particularly in the outlying areas of Baghdad province and in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad and in the northern province of Nineva.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070613/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_pentagon_report

[Tempest]

1. Ya think?

What do you suppose was the tip-off?

May being the 3rd most month for U.S. deaths in Iraq?

The increase in car bombings?

The increase in civilian deaths?

[louis-t]

2. Oh that just shows that the surge is working

it shows how skeered they are of us. Holy Joe sees progress, why can't you? :crazy: Jeez, I have this image of him in full body armor and a bulky helmet. He can barely move, and he's repeating "I SEE PROGRESS, I SEE PROGRESS..." Arrrrrgggghhhh!

[Tempest]

3. And yesterday's mosque bombing was an "act of desperation"

US officials in Iraq are calling the attack on a Shiite shrine in Samarra an ``act of desperation.''

A statement from Iraq commander General David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker also blames al-Qaida for trying to ``inflame sectarian strife among the people of Iraq.''

[sakabatou]

4. .