Violent incidents down; Al Qaeda ‘off balance’ in Iraq

U.S. Army Pfc. Joshua Smith and Sgt. Trent Boone, both of Alpha Troop, 27th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, provide security during a good neighbor mission in Mosul

Attacks and violent incidents in Iraq are down, but Iraqi and Coalition forces still have a lot of work ahead, a top Coalition spokesman in Iraq said at the end of September.

“In a whole sense there is no question about the fact that, in our minds, the trend is going in the right direction,” said Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, communications division chief for Multi National Force-Iraq.

“Our efforts to continue the reduction in violence will allow Iraqi society to begin to mend. There is a lot of hard work to do.”

Hard work means stopping extremists before they strike, Fox said in a news briefing. To that end, he said, Iraqis are reporting insurgent activity in their neighborhoods.