THE TENSION: March 11, 2007

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Combat Camera: Marines Dispose of Explosive Ordnance Cache

U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt Daniel Thibeault (right), an explosive ordnance disposal Marine from Combat Logistics Battalion attached to Battalion Landing Team 2/4, demonstrates to Marines the proper way to prepare ordnance for disposal, Feb. 22, 2007. EOD performs various functions for the battalion such disposal of improvised explosive devices, weapons and post blast analysis. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt Tracie G. Kessler

Marines with the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based Battalion Landing Team 2/4 are shown the proper way to prepare ordnance for disposal by explosive ordnance disposal Marines, Feb. 22, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt Tracie G. Kessler

Marines with the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based Battalion Landing Team 2/4 are shown the proper way to prepare ordnance for disposal by explosive ordnance disposal Marines, Feb. 22, 2007. EOD performs various functions for the battalion such disposal of improvised explosive devices, weapons and post blast analysis. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt Tracie G. Kessler

U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt Aaron Salyi (left), explosive ordnance disposal cheif from Combat Logistics Battalion attached to Battalion Landing Team 2/4, demonstrates to Marines the proper way to prepare ordnance for disposal, Feb. 22, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt Tracie G. Kessler

The end result of the work done by explosive ordnance disposal Marines attached to the California-based Battalion Landing Team 2/4, Feb. 22, 2007. EOD performs various functions for the battalion such disposal of improvised explosive devices, weapons and post blast analysis. U.S. Marine Corsp photo by Staff Sgt Tracie G. Kessler

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Friday, March 16, 2007

The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 16 Mar.

The Decline and Fall of Western Civ.: Barbarians have Crashed the Gate

It's the end of the world as we know it...

For four decades there have been rumours that Marilyn Monroe's death was not a simple suicide. Now a Los Angeles-based Australian writer and director, Philippe Mora, has uncovered an FBI document that throws up a chilling new scenario, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The Associated Press reports a federal judge ruled Friday that a former escort service owner cannot sell phone records and other documents that could be used to publicly identify thousands of her clients.

Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 50, has said she planned to sell the list of up to 15,000 client phone numbers and other records to a news organization to help raise money for her defense. The alleged "D.C. Madam" ran Pamela Martin and Associates, an upscale escort service in the Washington area, for 13 years before it closed in August.

Republican presidential contender John McCain on Friday used the term "tar baby," considered by some a racial epithet, and later said he regretted it, The Associated Press reports.

Answering questions at a town hall meeting, the Arizona senator was discussing federal involvement in custody cases when he said, "For me to stand here and ... say I'm going to declare divorces invalid because of someone who feels they weren't treated fairly in court, we are getting into a tar baby of enormous proportions and I don't know how you get out of that."

As what some reports foolishly call the world's warmest winter on record drew to an end with a weekend blizzard, a group of religious leaders started walking across Massachusetts Friday to bring attention to global warming, reports Boston.com.

Last week, a big row broke out in the federal government of Belgium. The reason? Al Gore and his campaign on climate change. But it was not about measures to limit CO2 emissions that the government ministers were quarreling. No, they were fighting about a picture which appeared in the Belgian press, according to the Brussels Journal .

The row confirms a few things about the status of climate change and Al Gore: in Belgium, Al Gore is looked upon as a hero, a superman, the only man in the world who can save the planet. And the discussion about climate change in the media and among politicians is not about the scientific data and conclusions, but only about the politics.

Speaking of limiting the discussion about climate change to politics, The Associated Press reports former Vice President Al Gore has collected nearly 300,000 electronic signatures asking Congress to take action on global warming, Gore said in an entry on his Web site Friday. Gore said the signatures demonstrate "that hundreds of thousands of people share my sense of urgency" on climate change. Gore is scheduled to testify before Congress about the issue Wednesday.

"The debate on the science has long been over - except for a diminishing number of skeptics and deniers," Gore said.
The debate on science is over when science has been replaced by politics.

A painter fascinated with best-selling conspiracy thriller The Da Vinci Code committed suicide after becoming convinced she was the subject of a real-life murder plot, according to the Daily Mail.

Valerie Plame, the CIA operative at the heart of a political scandal, told Congress Friday that senior officials at the White House and State Department "carelessly and recklessly" blew her "covert" CIA cover to discredit her diplomat-husband.

But the word "covert" also has a legal definition requiring recent foreign service by the person and active efforts to keep his or her identity secret. Critics of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation said Plame did not meet that definition for several reasons and that was why nobody was charged with the leak.

Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, the committee's senior Republican, called the session a partisan hearing that would do little to illuminate how Plame's identity came to be exposed or how such disclosures could be prevented.

"No process can be adopted to protect classified information that no one knows is classified. This looks to me more like a CIA problem than a White House problem," Davis said.
More from The Associated Press. Transcript from The Washington Post.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted Friday that new sanctions won't force Iran to give up its right to enrich uranium, and he blasted the U.N. Security Council as an instrument used by "bullying" Western nations against Tehran, according to The Associated Press.

AP reports SkyWest Airlines apologized to a passenger who said he wasn't allowed to use the restroom during a one-hour flight and ended up urinating in an air-sickness bag after two "really big beers."

Thousands of starry-eyed couples across the United States will be tying the knot on July 7 this year, hoping the almost numerically perfect 7/7/07 combination will prove a perfect match, AFP reports.

"We have over 31,000 weddings planned for that day when typically on a Saturday in July, the most popular month for weddings, we have about 12,000 weddings taking place," Kathleen Murray, deputy editor of the theknot.com, a wedding planning site, told AFP.

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The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life After the White House by R. Emmett Tyrrell

BOOKS IN THE NEWS

The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life After the White House by R. Emmett Tyrrell
(From the Publisher) -- With his characteristic investigative eye and Menckenesque prose, R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. sheds new light on Bill Clinton's post-presidential emotional depression, globe trotting and international deal-making, financial ties to China and the United Arab Emirates, ongoing womanizing, vital support role in Hillary Clinton's anticipated run for the White House, and possible role as America's first "First Man."

‘Conspiracy’ comes back for Clintons
WASHINGTON (Examiner) -- If it’s campaign season, that means one thing: Let the mudslinging begin.

The latest book by American Spectator founder and Editor in Chief R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., “The Clinton Crack-Up,” hits book shelves next week, and our sneak peek into the tome suggests it’s certain to cause a stir.

Tyrrell, you’ll recall, is no fan of the Clintons. His last book, “Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House,” compared Sen. Hillary Clinton’s time in the White House to that of a pre-revolutionary French monarch. And his American Spectator magazine cried “Scandal!” throughout the Clinton administration.

With his new tome, Tyrrell picks up right where he left off.

Tyrrell claims that Bill Clinton has continued to womanize since he left office in 2001. Read it.

Buy now from Amazon.com:
The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life After the White House

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Combat Camera: Troops Provide Security Outside Samarra

A convoy of U.S. Army soldiers approaches an Iraqi checkpoint outside Samarra, Iraq, Feb. 27, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Molly Dzitko

U.S. Army soldiers, assigned to the 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion, provide convoy security while fellow soldiers talk to locals in Samarra, Iraq, Feb. 28, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Molly Dzitko

U.S. Army soldiers, assigned to the 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion, talk with Iraqi army soldiers in Samarra, Iraq, Feb. 28, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Molly Dzitko

A U.S. Army soldier, assigned to the the 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion, provides security for his convoy in Samarra, Iraq, Feb. 28, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Molly Dzitko

An Iraqi army soldier practices aiming his rocket launcher during training at an Iraqi checkpoint outside Samarra, Iraq, Feb. 27, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Molly Dzitko

U.S. Army Pfc. Ashley Denson, a medic assigned to Charlie Company, 82nd Brigade Support Battalion, provides convoy security in Samarra, Iraq, Feb. 28, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Molly Dzitko

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Clayton Glover, assigned to the 529th Military Police Company, and his military working dog, Alf ,search for explosives at an Iraqi checkpoint outside Samarra, Iraq, Feb. 27, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Molly Dzitko

An Iraqi army soldier provides security at an Iraqi checkpoint outside Samarra, Iraq, Feb. 27, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Molly Dzitko

U.S. Army soldiers, assigned to Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, take a break at an Iraqi checkpoint outside Samarra, Iraq, Feb. 27, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Molly Dzitko

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Thursday, March 15, 2007

The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 15 Mar.

It's the end of the world as we know it...

AP reports Democrats futilely challenged President Bush's Iraq policy on Thursday, suffering defeat in the Senate on a plan to end U.S. participation in the war.

So much for anyone who fell for Democrats' promises of a quick exit from Iraq.

White House political adviser Karl Rove raised questions in early 2005 about replacing some federal prosecutors but allowing others to stay, an e-mail released Thursday shows. The one-page document, which spans e-mails between the White House and the Justice Department in January 2005, also indicates Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was considering a range of options in dismissing U.S. attorneys early in President Bush's second term, according to the Associated Press.

While the mainstream media and Democrats are ignoring the fact that the law says 'United States Attorneys are subject to removal at the will of the President,' perhaps Bush's folks should have followed Clinton's lead and fired the whole lot.

The only story here is how conservatives are growing tired of the Bush administration's failure to stand up for itself and put down its challengers. However, unlike his American foes, perhaps Bush feels the real enemy isn't the opposite political party and ideology.

Speaking of Bush, Bloomberg reports the President's approval rating among Americans depends upon income level.

Twenty-three percent of all Americans said the country is on the right track, a 15-year low, according to a new Bloomberg poll. Among those with higher incomes, 43 percent said the country is on the right path. Three-fifths of Americans disapproved of the job Bush is doing, compared with 38 percent who approved. Among those with household income higher than $100,000, the gap is smaller, with 53 percent disapproving and 46 percent approving.

NASA has released a study that says dust, pollution, and other aerosol particles are not blocking as much sunlight as in the past. This, the reports says, could have given an extra push to the rise in global surface temperatures.

"When more sunlight can get through the atmosphere and warm Earth's surface, you're going to have an effect on climate and temperature," said lead author Michael Mishchenko of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), New York. "Knowing what aerosols are doing globally gives us an important missing piece of the big picture of the forces at work on climate."
So, does all this mean that less pollution is causing global warming?

A Danish scientist said the idea of a "global temperature" and global warming is more political than scientific, reports UPI.

"It is impossible to talk about a single temperature for something as complicated as the climate of Earth," said Andresen, an expert on thermodynamics. "A temperature can be defined only for a homogeneous system. Furthermore, the climate is not governed by a single temperature. Rather, differences of temperatures drive the processes and create the storms, sea currents, thunder, etc. which make up the climate".

There was no pot of gold behind the dancing roadside leprechaun, only speeding tickets. Dozens of drivers in the Orlando area found out the hard way Thursday after passing an Orange County sheriff's deputy dressed as a leprechaun and warning drivers to slow down, AP reports.

Newsday reports if gays and lesbians were looking for a champion to dispute Gen. Peter Pace's claim that homosexuality is immoral, they might have expected Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama to leap forward.

Not quite. While both Clinton and Obama are courting gays and lesbians, and would allow them to serve openly in the military, the Democratic front-runners have been curiously reticent about challenging the statements of the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff.

Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback is backing the Pentagon's top general over his remarks that homosexual acts are immoral. The Kansas senator planned to send a letter on Thursday to President Bush supporting Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who earlier this week likened homosexuality to adultery and said the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly the Associated Press reports.

Anonymous Sources: Mohammed Exaggerated Claims

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Open thread:

The Associated Press today ran a story attempting to discredit some of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claims as detailed in official government transcripts. While it is easy to believe KSM exaggerated some claims, it is also easy to believe his confession must be discredited because it fails to fit a media template which ultimately sees traditional America as evil and blames the Bush administration for many of the problems in the world.

Instead of letting the information flow from the tribunal, the AP story simply parlays one reporter's speculations into news.

Mohammed's claims that he was responsible for dozens of successful, foiled and planned attacks in the past 15 years relies on what AP calls a loose definition of the word "responsible." Officials say the 9/11 mastermind was key to some plots but a bit player in others.

The officials attempting to downplay Mohammed's claims spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Current and former government officials say the CIA spent hundreds -- if not thousands -- of hours interrogating Mohammed and would have heard him describe in great detail precisely what he claims to have done in each plot. The transcript provided a snippet of his claims, officials said.

A CIA official declined to analyze Mohammed's statements. In the Defense Department transcript, Mohammed said his statement was not made under duress.

The CIA has denied cliams that it used torture on Mohammed. "The agency's terrorist interrogation program has been conducted lawfully, with great care and close review, producing vital information that has helped disrupt plots and save lives," spokesman Paul Gimigliano said.

Full Transcript: Guantanamo Hearing (PDF)

In another story, the Associated Press reports Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's capture four years ago didn't shut down al-Qaida or bring the Americans to Osama bin Laden. But if his mega-confession is to be believed, his arrest was a crushing blow to bin Laden's plans for even more deadly attacks in the wake of 9/11.

His expertise was never replaced and his absence has contributed to the group's transition from a fear-inspiring attack force to a hate-filled voice on the Internet, urging others to wage terror against the West.

"In terms of competence for managing, planning and executing terrorist attacks, KSM was the best in al-Qaida," said Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert and author of a book on al-Qaida. "That's why Osama bin Laden and other important al-Qaida leaders entrusted him with so many operations."

Eyewitness Accounts of War in "Muse of Fire"

In the news:

“Muse of Fire,” a film that debuted last night, uses American troops’ eyewitness accounts and private journals to bring to life the tragedy, pain, horror, death and even the hope and optimism of war, reports the American Forces Press Service.

"I wanted to show service members who have sacrificed so much for us, not only to humanize them, but to show how they grew personally and how they turned into writers,” film director Lawrence Bridges said at the debut.

Bridges said his goal was to make a film about how war sparked the troops’ creativity.

“I wanted to explore the military experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, the experience on the home front of spouses and children, and show through those experiences of deep trauma that may never be experienced by average Americans, how you use that in your creative life.”

Muse Of Fire

NOTE: If you are having trouble loading the embedded video, please click here to view at the source.

PRESS RELEASE
Washington, DC -- On March 14, 2007, the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the National Archives, will present the world premiere of Muse of Fire, a new documentary film about wartime writing and the creative process that was inspired by the groundbreaking National Endowment for the Arts initiative, Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience. The film features compelling readings and interviews with troops and their families who participated in the program. Muse of Fire also includes renowned writers who taught writing workshops for the initiative, such as best-selling novelist Jeff Shaara (The Rising Tide) and award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson (The Fields of Praise). Award-winning actor and director Kevin Costner (The Guardian) is featured, as is actor Stephen Lang (Gods and Generals). Muse of Fire is directed by Lawrence Bridges of Red Car Productions. Read it in its entirety.

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Update: 9/11 Mastermind Confesses

9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a string of others during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released Wednesday by the Pentagon.

"I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z," said Mohammed, speaking through a personal representative, according to the transcript of the hearing at the U.S. military prison camp released by the Pentagon.

"I was the operational director for Sheikh Usama (Osama) Bin Laden for the organizing, planning, follow-up, and execution of the 9/11 operation," he said through his representative, a member of the U.S. military.

In all, Mohammed said he was responsible for planning 29 individual attacks, including many that were never executed. The comments were included in a 26-page transcript released by the Pentagon, which also blacked out some of his remarks, according to the Associated Press.

Update: The Washington Post reports:

Mohammed described himself as Osama bin Laden's operational director for the Sept. 11 attacks and as al-Qaeda's military operational commander for "all foreign operations around the world."

He claimed to have been "responsible" for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, Richard Reid's attempt to ignite a shoe bomb on an airliner over the Atlantic Ocean in December 2001, and the October 2002 bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia.

Mohammed also said he plotted to assassinate several former presidents, including Jimmy Carter, a scheme not previously revealed.

Mohammed described several other plots that never came about, such as attacks on buildings in California, Chicago and Washington state, and on the New York Stock Exchange.

Update: Fox News reports Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confirmed:

-Masterminding 1993 truck bombing of World Trade Center.

-Arranging failed attack by shoe bomber Richard Reid.

-Planning assassination attempts on Clinton, Carter, Pope.

-Organizing deadly 2002 nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia.

In laying out his role in 31 attacks, his words drew Al Qaeda closer to plots of the early 1990s than the group has previously been linked, including the 1993 World Trade Center truck bombing in which six people died.

Six people with links to global terror networks were convicted in federal court and sentenced to life in prison for that attack.

Mohammed made clear that Al Qaeda wanted to down a second trans-Atlantic aircraft during would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid's operation.

And he confessed to the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in a section of the statement that was excised from the public document, The Associated Press has learned. Pearl was abducted in January 2002 in Pakistan while researching a story on Islamic militancy. Mohammed has long been a suspect in the slaying, which was captured on vid

The transcript said Mohammed was present at the hearing, which is to determine whether he meets the definition of an "enemy combatant."

Read the entire story (with links to tribunal docs) from the Pentagon:
Al Qaeda Operative Admits to Masterminding 9/11 Attacks

Full transcript from The Smoking Gun

Update: Here is a list of Quick facts from Fox News. In addition to masterminding the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Mohammed admitted to being the executor of or participant in the following plots (some of which were never executed):

- Shoe bomber operation to bring down two American airplanes.

- Planning an assassination attempt against President Bill Clinton during his visit to the Philippines in 1994.

- Planning an assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II while he was visiting the Philippines.

- Planning an assassination attempt against former President Jimmy Carter.

- Filki Island operation in Kuwait that killed two American soldiers.

- Bombing of nightclub in Bali, Indonesia in 2002.

- Planning new wave of attacks on the following skyscrapers following 9/11: Library Tower in Calif., Sears Tower in Chicago, Plaza Bank in Washington state and the Empire State Building in New York City.

- Destruction of many nightclubs frequented by American and British citizens in Thailand.

- Planning and financing the destruction of U.S. embassies in Indonesia, Australia and Japan.

- Surveying and financing the destruction of Israeli embassies in India, Azerbaijan, the Philippines and Australia.

- Sending several mujahedeen into Israel to conduct surveillance to hit strategic targets in the country.

- Bombing of hotel in Mombassa, Kenya that is frequented by Jewish travelers.

- Financing attacks on several American, Jewish and British targets in Turkey.

- Planning, surveying and financing attacks on NATO headquarters in Europe.

More from: Reuters; Reuters transcript; The Washington Post; Associated Press; ABC News; The New York Times.

RELATED
Administrative Tribunals to Begin for High-Value Guantanamo Detainees

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The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 14 Mar.

It's the end of the world as we know it...

Here's another good reason for the U.S. not to relinquish control of the Internet to the U.N. Internet censorship is spreading rapidly, being practised by about two dozen countries and applied to a far wider range of online information and applications, according to research by a transatlantic group of academics, reports FT.com.

The warning comes a week after a Turkish court ordered the blocking of YouTube to silence offensive comments about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, marking the most visible attack yet on a website that has been widely adopted around the world.

TVWeek.com reports Fox has moved into a first-place tie with CBS for the season, and it likely will pass CBS to lead all networks within the next two days.

Google said on Wednesday it would begin routinely purging its data banks of information that identifies search engine users in order to better shield their anonymity, according to AFP and AP.

The New York Times reports Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton foresees a “remaining military as well as political mission” in Iraq, and says that if elected president, she would keep a reduced military force there to fight Al Qaeda, deter Iranian aggression, protect the Kurds and possibly support the Iraqi military.

First it was Fox News, now The Hill reports Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the Democratic Caucus chairman, has told new Democratic members of Congress to steer clear of Stephen Colbert, or at least his satirical Comedy Central program, “The Colbert Report.”

John Edwards on Global Warming: 'This is an emergency' 'It's a frightening thing' 'It'll make world war look like heaven'

AP reports Banana company Chiquita Brands International said Wednesday it has agreed to a $25 million fine after admitting it paid terrorists for protection in a volatile farming region of Colombia.

Two stray cats attacked three people after they got into a house in North Platte. "I thought I had seen it all, but I have never seen anything like this," Chief of Police Martin Gutschenritter said Tuesday. A call for help Monday took animal control officer John Pettit to the home of Melissa Breva, Gutschenritter said. Breva told Pettit she had captured two cats in a bedroom, according to the Associated Press.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

9/11 Mastermind Confesses

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
NOTE: This post has been updated.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a string of others during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released Wednesday by the Pentagon.

"I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z," said Mohammed, speaking through a personal representative, according to the transcript of the hearing at the U.S. military prison camp released by the Pentagon.

"I was the operational director for Sheikh Usama (Osama) Bin Laden for the organizing, planning, follow-up, and execution of the 9/11 operation," he said through his representative, a member of the U.S. military.

Baghdad Security Crackdown Drastically Curbs Violence, Killings of U.S. Soldiers

Spc. Jason Peacock, from the 14th Cavalry Regiment, scans the rooftops from his overwatch position during a cordon and search mission in Baghdad. Photo by Staff Sgt. Sean A. Foley, March 14, 2007

Coalition Forces Capture Anti-Iraqi Forces, Find Weapons
Open thread:

According to Rush Limbaugh, not long after the Drudge Report linked to one of the stories included below, Matt Drudge started to receive death threats.

Democrats and liberals often talk about the existence of two Americas. I agree ... but I am sure conservatives have not caused the division. There are truly two Americas when news of success in Iraq causes those who are invested in defeat to react so irrationally. They cannot afford to see America win.

The rate of killings of US troops in Iraq has been on the decline, down by 60 percent, since the launch of the new security measures in Baghdad, according to statistics revealed by the Multi-National Force -Iraq Combined Press Information Centre, reports KUNA.

The remarkable decrease in killings among the US troops came at a time when more of these troops were deployed in the Iraqi capital, especially in districts previously regarded as extremely hazardous for them such as Al-Sadr City, Al-Azamiyah, and Al-Doura.
The American Forces Press Service reports violence is down in Iraq and Iraqis “are starting to see this growth and gaining new confidence,” a coalition spokesman in Baghdad said today.

Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters at a news conference that the decrease in violence has created an opportunity for new progress.

“We are seeing positive signs in the streets,” Caldwell said. “There are signs that life is improving for the people in Iraq. There has been a decrease in violence, but things need to get better. We still need to be patient.”

Caldwell said the way forward in Iraq requires more than the military. “We can and we will win every battle,” he said. “But we cannot win the peace alone. In the end, Iraq needs political and economic solutions.”

Key U.S. and Iraqi officials on Wednesday issued cautiously optimistic reports one month into the latest drive to curb sectarian bloodshed in Baghdad but warned that months would pass before the operation could be labeled a success, reports the Associated Press.

The Associated Press also reports bomb deaths have gone down 30 percent in Baghdad since the U.S.-led security crackdown began a month ago. Execution-style slayings are down by nearly half.

The once frequent sound of weapons has been reduced to episodic, and downtown shoppers have returned to outdoor markets - favored targets of car bombers.

There are signs of progress in the campaign to restore order in Iraq, starting with its capital city.

US and Iraqi officials on Wenesday claimed that civilian deaths had declined precipitously in Baghdad since the push to secure the capital began a month ago, according to FT.com.

Brigadier Qassim Moussawi, Iraqi military spokesman, said the number of Iraqis killed by violence in Baghdad in the 30 days since Operation Enforcing the Law began was 265, down from 1,440 killed in the previous month. He said that the number of attacks in surrounding provinces had increased, although he did not provide figures.

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Combat Camera: Stennis Carrier Strike Group on Deployment

ARABIAN SEA (March 8, 2007) - An EA-6B Prowler, assigned to the "Yellowjackets" of Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (VAQ) 138, approaches the flight deck aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). Stennis Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Paul J. Perkins (RELEASED)

ARABIAN SEA (March 8, 2007) – Sailors assigned to launch and recovery division aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) run across the landing area following inspection of the arresting gear wire after an aircraft "boltered" during recovery. A "bolter" is an aircraft that doesn't catch the arresting gear wire while landing. John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Paul J. Perkins (RELEASED)

ARABIAN SEA (March 13, 2007) - An SH-60F Seahawk, assigned to the "Eightballers" of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 8, lands on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). Stennis Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman John Wagner (RELEASED)

ARABIAN SEA (March 8, 2007) – After an SH-60F Seahawk, assigned to the "Eightballers" of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 8, lands aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), line division personnel chock and chain the aircraft during flight operations. John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jon Hyde (RELEASED)

ARABIAN SEA (March 13, 2007) - Pilots assigned to the "Black Knights" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 154 test their F/A-18F Super Hornet's ailerons prior to launch aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). Stennis Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman John Wagner (RELEASED)

ARABIAN SEA (March 7, 2007) - Master-at-Arms 1st Class Kenneth Watson, left, and Master-at-Arms 3rd Class Peter Passe run through security procedures for securing a ladder well during security drills aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). Stennis Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Kyle Steckler (RELEASED)

ARABIAN SEA (March 5, 2007) - Sailors assigned to Military Sealift Command (MSC) fast combat support ship USNS Bridge (T-AOE 10) attach pallets of supplies to a cargo hook to an HH-60H Seahawk assigned to the "Eightballers" of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 8. The replenishment at sea took place between Bridge and Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). Stennis Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jon Hyde (RELEASED)

ARABIAN SEA (March 9, 2007) - Sailors assigned to supply department aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) work diligently to transfer supplies from the flight deck to the hangar bay during a replenishment at sea with Military Sealift Command (MSC) fast combat support ship USNS Bridge (T-AOE 10). Stennis Carrier Strike Group is on a regularly scheduled deployment in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jon Hyde (RELEASED)

ARABIAN SEA (March 6, 2007) - Boatswain's mates assigned to deck department steer a rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) toward the back end of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) during a training exercise for security operations and man overboard scenarios. John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ron Reeves (RELEASED)