Iraq: 34,000 insurgent attacks in 2005 - up 30%

alertnet: Insurgents in Iraq mounted more than 34,000 attacks last year on U.S. and other foreign troops, Iraqi security forces and Iraqi civilians, a nearly 30 percent jump from 2004, the U.S. military said on Monday.

U.S. officials cautioned that the figure should not be seen as evidence that insurgents are gaining ground because the effectiveness of their attacks declined and the Iraqis achieved numerous political milestones despite the ongoing violence.

"We are succeeding, and the Iraqis are succeeding," said Marine Corps Maj. Tim Keefe, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.

But defense analyst Daniel Goure of the Lexington Institute think tank said, "It's a little hard on the face of it to claim we are being successful when the number of attacks increases by 30 percent.

"Given the fact that the total number of attacks are up and Iraqi casualties are rising, it is real hard to say we have seen any light in this tunnel," Goure added. Read more