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Iraqi life improving, anti-war crowd depressed

December 30th, 2007 by Double Tap

It’s good news or bad news, depending on your perspective. Of course, if you are against the war, then any good news out of Iraq is bad news for your cause.

The first good news is that security in Baghdad has improved so much, local Iraqis are taking the opportunity to enjoy the American-renovated Baghdad Zoo.

On an average day about 200 visitors come to the park, zoo officials said. But during the holiday season, the number can surge to a million in a week.

Adil Salman Mousa, the zoo’s director for 17 years, said the reason for the crowds can be summed up in one word: security. “This is the most important thing for visitors in the Baghdad area,” he said. “This is the only place where Iraqis in Baghdad can breathe.”

(snip)

On a recent morning, Ali Abdul Hussein came to the zoo with a female friend because he said he wanted to find a place where they could stroll without fear of violence.

“I feel safe here. I feel relaxed,” said Hussein, 51, a taxi driver, as his wandered past a newly renovated porcupine habitat, the latest of Cronin’s renovation projects. “Before,” he said, recalling the days of Saddam Hussein, “we always felt that someone was watching and listening to us. We didn’t feel free.”

The second story is about the over-all decline of Al Qaeda’s influence in the country. Not only is the Iraqi government saying it, but even Osama Bin Ladin is complaining about it. If that’s not a verification of the Iraqi government report, I don’t know what is.

From the AFP story:

The Iraqi interior ministry lauded its achievements over the past year on Saturday, saying that 75 percent of Al-Qaeda’s networks in the country had been destroyed in 12 months. Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf also outlined sharp falls in the numbers of assassinations, kidnappings and death squad murders.

He told a news conference that increased patrols along the borders with Saudi Arabia and Syria had slowed infiltration by militants and played a key role in Iraq’s improved security situation.

“We have destroyed 75 percent of Al-Qaeda hide-outs, and we broke up major criminal networks that supported Al-Qaeda in Baghdad,” he said.

“After eliminating safe houses in Anbar province, which used to be Al-Qaeda’s base, we moved into areas surrounding Baghdad and into Diyala province. Al-Qaeda headed north and we are pursuing them,” he said.

Khalaf said kidnappings were down 70 percent and that an average of three to five people killed by death squads were being found each day in Baghdad compared with 15 to 20 a day in February.

Personnel with militant or criminal links had been weeded out from Iraqi security forces, he said, adding that Sunni-US alliances against Al-Qaeda had also significantly contributed to the drop in violence.

Bin Ladin obviously isn’t digging this turn of events, as he threatened those Iraqis working against the terrorist organization:

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Osama bin Laden warned Iraq’s Sunni Arabs against fighting al-Qaida and vowed to expand the terror group’s holy war to Israel in a new audiotape Saturday, threatening “blood for blood, destruction for destruction.”

Most of the 56-minute tape dealt with Iraq, apparently al-Qaida’s latest attempt to keep supporters in Iraq unified at a time when the U.S. military claims to have al-Qaida’s Iraq branch on the run.

(snip)

Bin Laden said Sunni Arabs who have joined the Awakening Councils “have betrayed the nation and brought disgrace and shame to their people. They will suffer in life and in the afterlife.”

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