Otherwise, it wouldn't get reported at all...
BAGHDAD, Nov. 18 -- As U.S. officials on Sunday declared a 55 percent drop in attacks since the launch of an offensive nine months ago, bombs detonated across Iraq, killing at least 15 and highlighting Iraq's continuing security threats. The casualties included three children playing soccer, when a roadside bomb detonated in a playground near Baqubah, 40 miles northeast of Baghdad. Meanwhile, a barrage of mortars and rockets struck U.S. bases in Baghdad early Sunday morning.
Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a senior U.S. military spokesman, said violence in some parts of Iraq has fallen to its lowest levels since the summer of 2005. Iraqi civilian casualties are down 60 percent since June, while in Baghdad, they had dropped 75 percent, said Smith. But Sunday's attacks brought a tone of caution.
"The fight we're up against has not gone away. Today's mortar and rocket attacks demonstrate that the enemy has the capacity to wage violence," Smith told reporters. "We're working our way through those attacks and the level of damage."
U.S. Embassy spokesman Philip Reeker, referring to reports that Iran was limiting its alleged support to Shiite militias, also cautioned that it was unclear whether Iran played any role in the downturn in violence.
"It's difficult to read trends in reductions," Reeker told reporters. "Vis-a-vis Iran's action, that is something we're not yet prepared to do." "Make no doubt . . . Iran has been the principle supplier of weapons, arms, training and funding of many militia groups," Smith said. "That has not changed."
Mohammad Ali Hosseini, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Sunday that "since the beginning, the United States has raised baseless accusations against Iran." Yeah, you, OJ, and John f Kerry.
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