ON THE OTHER HAND...

There isn't all that much progress in Iraq, despite all the claims about "victory." There has been no political reconciliation - the whole point of the Surge - and Al Qaida is still functioning. Gen. Hertling's refusal to give an estimate about the number of Al Qaida in his area is another indication that we don't even know how many there really are and that's been a problem for years.

General Says N. Iraq Most Violent Region
Nov 19, 5:40 PM (ET)
By PAULINE JELINEK


WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite a decline in violence in Iraq, northern Iraq has become more violent than other regions as al-Qaida and other militants move there to avoid coalition operations elsewhere, the region's top U.S. commander said Monday. Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling said al-Qaida cells still operate in all the key cities in the north.

"What you're seeing is the enemy shifting," Hertling told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from outside Tikrit in northern Iraq.

Hertling declined to say how many al-Qaida members he believes are in his area, but he said a recently started operation has netted some 200 detainees who are giving officials good information about the organization and how it operates.

"There are certainly cells remaining in all the key cities" in the north, he said.

"We're doing our very best on a daily basis to break those cells down," Hertling said. "We've had success, but it is still going to be a very tough fight to eliminate those terrorists and insurgents and extremists completely from those areas."