Pentagon: Extrajudicial Killings of Iraqi Civilians Drop

Attacks against individual Iraqis have plummeted since the United States launched its new push to secure Baghdad and volatile Anbar province last month, but mass-casualty suicide bombings continue, a top U.S. military official said today.

"Violence directed at Iraqi civilians has dropped by about a third of the averages before mid-February," Army Brig. Gen. Michael Barbero said. "Murders and executions against civilians, referred to [as] extrajudicial killings, have decreased significantly, somewhere in the area of about a 50 percent decrease. "

Such attacks would often include multiple kidnappings and execution-style murders. In some cases the casualties could be in the dozens. Many of those episodes were blamed on the Mahdi Army militia, based in Sadr City, a Shiite stronghold in Baghdad. However, since the U.S. surge began, the militia has been less active -- reportedly on the orders of its leader, Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The decline in attacks follows U.S. raids in Sadr City in recent weeks allowing U.S. forces to operate freely in that neighborhood, Barbero said at a Pentagon briefing.

"There's been a pretty dramatic change," Barbero said. "We have joint security stations established [with Iraqis], a medical clinic, and we're operating freely in there, when before we were not."

But high-profile suicide bombings have continued as the war entered its fifth year this week and the U.S. continued deploying 30,000 additional troops to Baghdad and Anbar.

Barbero cited a suicide car bombing in Baghdad this past weekend as one gruesome example.

"We saw a vehicle with two children in the back seat come up to one of our checkpoints [and] get stopped by our folks," he said. "Children in the back seat lower suspicion. We let it move through. They parked the vehicle. The adults run out and detonate it with the children in the back."

Barbero warned that such attacks will continue. "The brutality and ruthless nature of this enemy hasn't changed," he said. "I mean, they are just interested in slaughtering Iraqi civilians to meet their ends."

But Barbero also spoke of what he called "positive indicators" in the weeks since the U.S. troop surge began and Iraq began deploying additional Army brigades in Baghdad.

He said hundreds of families who fled Baghdad during the war have returned, and more Iraqis are contacting the U.S. military with tips.

"In summary, while there are positive indicators, sustained success will require continued commitment in the coming months to create the security necessary to allow political and economic progress," Barbero said.

Barbero's comments came a day after President Bush asked Americans for additional patience with the war, saying the United States can be victorious, but "only if we have the courage and resolve to see it through."

About 3,200 American military personnel have died since the war began in March 2003.