Sweet Victory!... Attacks In Iraq Down 90% From Last Year

It looks like it's a done deal...
This War is Won!

A woman holds up her child and the food she received from a humanitarian assistance distribution by Iraqi police in the Zuwarijat district of al Kut, Iraq, July 3. (DVIDS)

Thanks to the leadership of President George W. Bush, Iraq is a democracy and the Middle East is a safer place.
The Defense Department announced today that attack levels are down more than 90% from a year ago in Iraq.
The US Department of Defense reported:

Since late March, when major operations began in northern, central and southern Iraq, violence and attack levels in the country have dipped to the lowest point in four years.

Attack levels are down more than 90 percent during the past year. And as Iraqi army and police units continue to mature, the coalition and Iraqi government have been able to shift more focus toward central services and other issues affecting Iraqis, according to military officials in Baghdad.

“Our efforts in conjunction with the efforts of the Iraqi security forces have been significant in reducing the number of attacks throughout the country,” Austin said. “[Iraqi security forces] have collected up a number of caches, and they’ve also conducted operations in Basra and Amarah. And as we watch that unfold, we see them take out a tremendous amount of lethal accelerants off the battlefield.”

Austin said he’s pleased with his force’s hard work, but continues to focus against finishing the fight with al-Qaida in the north and efforts against Iranian-backed “special groups criminals” in the south.

“We know that al-Qaida is a very resilient enemy, and I think we have to continue to keep the pressure on the remnants of its organization,” he said. “We also know that special groups criminal elements have left the country and have gone to Iran and other places with the intent to come back at some point. There is work to be done yet.”

Since Austin took the reins of Multinational Corps Iraq in February, the coalition’s “footprint has decreased over time,” he said. The last of the five surge brigades – the 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team – goes home at the end of this month, and more than 300 troops scheduled to deploy less than a month ago were turned around. Their deployment was canceled due to the recent improvements here, Austin said.

A girl clutches the milk she received from a humanitarian assistance drop performed by Iraqi police in the Zuwarijat district of al Kut, Iraq, July 3. (DVIDS)

More good news... MNF-Iraq is reporting that Iraq experienced the lowest number of acts of violence in more than four years last week.