Iraq Violence Plummets

TimesOnline: Big drop in sectarian killings since last year

• "Violence in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level for 18 months"
• "Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno said that attacks in Baghdad alone had halved since January, while foreign terrorists had been “pushed out” of many areas."
• "General Odierno said that violence was at its lowest since the bombing of the Golden Dome mosque in Samarra in February last year"
• "The number of sectarian killings in Baghdad had fallen from an average of about 32 a day to 12 this year"

A look at the website Iraq Coalition Casualty Count today shows 530 Iraqi Police and Civilian deaths for the month of September as of the 21st.

The total for the entire month of August was 1,674.

With 9 days remaining in the month, it is too soon to say what the final casualty figures will be. However, the next closest month for immediate comparison of Iraqi civilian casualties is January 2006, at 779.

One reason for the drop in violence? Anbar Residents Promise to Wipe Out Al Qaeda By Year's End:

Sheik Ahmed added ‘All of Anbar has to avenge the killing of the Sheik, within a year no one will hear of Alqaida any more.

More evidence of al Qaeda's many mistakes.