Two figures

Two figures that are a signal of better things, though I wouldn't make too much of them yet. The most important one is the second.

The number of truck bombs and other large al-Qaeda-style attacks in Iraq have declined nearly 50% since the United States started increasing troop levels in Iraq about six months ago, according to the U.S. military command in Iraq.

The U.S. military gets 23,000 tips per month from Iraqis, four times more than last year, said Army Col. Ralph Baker, a former brigade commander in Iraq now assigned to the Pentagon.

The military distinguish between the mass-casualty attacks really meant for the media and the sectarian ones, which are either Sunni-Shia or IEDs planted for the military. The latter remain a problem and will probably take longer to get under control.

(via Instapundit)