[Dean's World] Dave Price: Iraq Violence Continues, But Ebbing

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Posted by Dave Price:
Iraq Violence Continues, But Ebbing
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1195863591.shtml


   It's interesting they would target a [1]pet market:

     BAGHDAD - Bombers struck a pet market in central Baghdad and a
     police checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul on Friday, killing
     28 people in two of the deadliest attacks in weeks.
     ...
     Despite the uptick in violence, November appeared on track to be
     the fourth month in a row to see a decline in the total number of
     Iraqi deaths, with at least 517 reported so far compared with 911
     in all of October, according to an Associated Press tally.

   I think Petraues has accomplished a sort of judo-esque dynamic here
   whereby the insurgents' tactics now work against them. With our troops
   primarily secluded in a few large, secured bases, seemingly
   unconcerned about the populace, the bombings caused the Iraqi public
   to resent the occupiers almost as much as the bombers. Now that our
   soldiers are out interacting with locals and addressing their concerns
   from many small joint U.S./Iraqi outposts, they're much more
   connected, and while Iraqis still complain that security is
   insuficient, the attacks now seem to rally the public around the ISF
   and U.S. forces rather than around militias and extremists.

References

   1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_071029195473;_ylt=Aqf7vEMb9XfbsoJo5re1o7lX6GMA