General says N. Iraq most violent region

I discovered this story at CBSnews.com. The story itself originated from the Associated Press. I went and googled the story and found the same version on some of the major news sources in our country: USA Today, Yahoo! News, etc.

Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling has said that the most violent region in Iraq is in the Northern region of the country. That's where, he said, the al-Qaida cells still operate in key cities.

This is a quote from the AP Story.

"What you're seeing is the enemy shifting," Hertling told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from outside Tikrit in northern Iraq.

The following is actual tidbits from the story.
Hertling said militants have been pushed east to his area from Anbar by the so-called "Awakening Movement."

"The attacks are still much higher than I would like here in the north, but they are continuing to decrease in numbers and scale of attacks," Hertling said.

Hertling said 1,830 roadside bombs were placed in his region in June, compared with 900 last month.

The U.S. military says overall attacks in Iraq have fallen 55 percent since nearly 30,000 additional American troops arrived in Iraq by June, and some areas are experiencing their lowest levels of violence since the summer of 2005.

Hertling is adamant about breaking down the cells in Iraq.

"We're doing our very best on a daily basis to break those cells down," Hertling said. "We've had success, but it is still going to be a very tough fight to eliminate those terrorists and insurgents and extremists completely from those areas."

Hmmm. I find this story bittersweet to the max.

On the positive side, I'm glad to hear that the overall attacks in Iraq have fallen 55%. It's good to know we've definitely made some progress over there. I'm hoping our soldiers can take care of this situation safely and come home sooner.

On the down side, I worry about the boys up in the Northern Region of Iraq. It's good we know where the major problem areas are, however, it still is a worry about those soldiers stationed there.

That's all for now.

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