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Brigadier General Donald Alston says Iraqi security forces have made
great strides in numbers and capabilities. Speaking with reporters
Thursday, the lead communications officer for the multinational force in
Iraq said conditions in many parts of the country remain perilous, but are markedly improved from a year ago.
"The calculus has changed, because we have 223,000 Iraqi security
forces that are in the fight," General Alston said. "The calculus has
changed because Iraqi security forces are now deployed throughout the
country. The calculus has changed because the Iraqi security forces are
doing a better job manning and securing their borders, which is denying
and disrupting the flow of the critical sustenance that comes from outside
the country to support Zarqawi's efforts."
General Alston said insurgents and terrorists, led by Jordanian-born
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have shown themselves unable to sustain the massive,
spectacular bombing attacks that were all too common last year, despite
surges in post-balloting violence, most recently after Iraq's national
elections earlier this month.
"Just as we expected and saw for the [constitutional] referendum
[earlier this year], once elections security measures were lifted, attacks
increased," continued General Alston. "We are seeing that now, as well.
However, the insurgency is showing little capacity to sustain numerous and
persistent elevated attack levels."
The general said insurgents have increasingly turned to smaller-scale
attacks, and that even these less-lethal incidents should diminish over
time. He gave credit to Iraqi security forces, but said political
participation by Iraq's disgruntled Sunni
minority has also been helpful, saying, "the choice of ballots over
bullets was a very positive development."
Thursday, a suicide bomber killed four police officers in Baghdad,
while gunmen killed at least 11 people in Latifiyah.
Critics of the war in Iraq have alleged that the pace of training Iraqi
security forces has been too slow, and that disbanding the country's army
after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion was a mistake. | 
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