Enemy surge in Iraq running low on fuel

CNN:

There has been a dip in violence across Iraq's war-torn capital in recent days, a U.S. military spokesman said Thursday.

He attributed the breather to the end of the holy month of Ramadan, an always-volatile period for extremists.

But the spokesman, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, pointed out that it was too soon to call the lull a trend.

The downturn, coupled with recent action taken by Iraqi government forces in provincial towns to quell violence, illustrates what the United States wants to achieve regularly. (Watch British troops adopt new tactics -- 4:57 )

"Progress and violence do co-exist here in Iraq," Caldwell said. "The security situation in parts of the country are complex, but the Iraqi government is constantly persevering to find solutions in the face of difficult challenges."

...

There has been "a decrease in the levels of violence" coinciding with the recent end of Ramadan, Caldwell told reporters without citing statistics.

"This has only been in the past few days, and we'll have to wait to see if this decrease proves to be a trend," he said.

The military is studying whether such a decrease could also be attributed to tough security measures implemented across the capital since Monday, when a U.S. soldier was reported missing. If so, the military would look at making such extraordinary measures permanent.

Caldwell spoke with pride about the performance of Iraqi security forces and government officials in quelling fighting between militias and government forces in several places -- including Amara, in Maysan province, and in Diwaniya, in Qadisiya province, both in the south -- and Sunni-Shiite sectarian fighting in Balad, in Salaheddin province, in the north.

"In each case Iraqi forces acting on their own played a critical role in quelling the violence within days," and that halted the violence "from spiraling out of control," he said. (Watch who U.S. troops are fighting -- 3:01 )

"Iraqis are taking charge of their country, and they are doing it valiantly," Caldwell said. "Violence will flare up again in areas under Iraqi control. The question is can they take care of the problems themselves. In all these instances they did. They responded and returned calm."

...

The enemy in Iraq has shown an inability to maintain offensive surges such as the recent Ramadan attacks. This has been a consistent pattern for the last three years. The enemy is losing in Iraq, but not fast enough at this point. Democrats in the US want the US to lose quicker and the enemy is certainly willing to let them.