Al Qaeda forces routed from every neighborhood in Baghdad? That's what the commander of U.S. forces in the capital has told the New York Times. Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr. said that means that troops involved in the surge can leave as planned. He also said that about 13% of the city still had not been cleared of militants, including Sadr City and other neighborhoods controlled by Shiite militias. The general said that murder victims are down 80% from the peak in June and that attacks involving improvised bombs have dropped 70%. General Fil attributed the decline to improvements in the Iraqi security forces, a cease-fire ordered by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, the disruption of financing for insurgents, and, most significant, Iraqis’ rejection of “the rule of the gun.” “The Iraqi people have just decided that they’ve had it up to here with violence,” he said, while noting that their demands for electricity, water and jobs have intensified. |
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