U.S. says car bombs a concern despite Baghdad plan(all time high in Feb)

[maddezmom]

U.S. says car bombs a concern despite Baghdad plan By Ahmed Rasheed
54 minutes ago



BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bombs in Baghdad, at a record high in February, remain a serious concern despite a month-old U.S.-backed crackdown, a U.S. general said in a more sober assessment than one given by Iraqi officials on Wednesday.

Major General William Caldwell said murders and executions in the capital since the Baghdad security plan began on February 14 had been halved but that "sensational" car bombs blamed on al Qaeda and other Sunni Arab militants had spiked in February.

"We reached an all-time high there in February," Caldwell told a news conference, without providing a figure. He said U.S. and Iraqi troops were investing a "tremendous amount of effort" in finding car bomb factories in the Baghdad beltway.

While Caldwell said there had been a "positive" reduction of overall murders and executions since the plan got under way, he warned of a slight "uptick" of violence in the last seven days.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070314/wl_nm/iraq_dc;_ylt=Aripm2oRq.WsnficN6h6aAVm.3QA

[Eugene]

1. Security is much improved except for all those people who got blown up.

Oh, and the death squads are back. Otherwise, the crackdown is coming along just fine. :eyes:

[bdamomma]

2. I guess that "ethic cleansing" is bringing that security.

[Barrett808]

3. How many of those "upticks in violence" have we had?

Seems like they just recycle the same press statements over and over.