U.S., Iraqis `Winning' Even as Insurgency Persists, Myers Says

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U.S., Iraqis `Winning' Even as Insurgency Persists, Myers Says
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and Iraqi forces are ``winning'' over insurgents even though the number of the attacks weekly averages about the same as two years ago, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said today.

The quality and impact of those attacks is uneven, indicating an overall weakening of insurgents as Iraqi security forces improve, General Richard Myers said.

``By almost any indicator you look at, the trends are up, so we're definitely winning, however, there will be a lot of challenges ahead,'' Myers said. ``Like any insurgency, we become impatient and in the end, the Iraqis must do this for themselves. What's changing is we're getting better intelligence from Iraqis and we're stopping things,'' Myers said.

Myers and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a Pentagon press conference described a conflict with ups and downs in the quantity and sophistication of attacks. Violence spiked in the last 10 days but not as high as during the assault on Fallujah in November or period before the Jan. 30 election, Myers said.



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