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WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 2, 2008) - Yesterday's suicide bombing
at a Baghdad funeral highlights the need to keep up the pressure on
al Qaeda in Iraq, a senior U.S. military officer said today.
The al Qaeda attack "is further evidence of the nature of these
extremists," Army Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, a spokesman for
Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters at a Baghdad news
conference. More than 30 Iraqis died in the blast, which injured
nearly 35 others, according to news reports.
Bergner condemned the "barbaric" attack, noting it personifies
al Qaeda's indiscriminate violence and the group's corrupt,
extremist ideology that targets the innocent.
The Baghdad bombing, the general said, underscores the need to
apply "continuous and persistent pressure" against al Qaeda and
other terror groups that operate in Iraq.
Working toward that purpose, coalition and Iraqi security forces
have killed or captured 51 al Qaeda in Iraq leaders, Bergner said.
Ten of the most significant of these deceased or detained insurgent
leaders were involved in weapons trafficking, murder,
foreign-terrorist facilitation, hijacking, finances, bomb making
and other activities, Bergner said.
Bergner also praised the tens of thousands of Iraqi citizen
volunteers who have joined in the fight against al Qaeda.
"Together with the Iraqi security forces and this new group of
leaders, we will continue to pursue those who terrorize the Iraqi
people," Bergner said. "We know it will continue to be a tough
fight and one that will test the courage and the strength of the
Iraqi people, the Iraqi forces, and the coalition forces."
Bergner praised the Iraqi people and their military and police
forces for "standing up" and rejecting extremists like al
Qaeda.
In 2007, surge-reinforced coalition troops and Iraqi citizens'
groups, soldiers and police pushed al Qaeda operatives out of
Baghdad and Iraq's Anbar province, Bergner said.
"It has been a year of very tough fighting," Bergner observed,
noting that offense-minded U.S. troops often paid a price when
attacking dug-in enemy fighters.
Coalition forces in Iraq "have pursued the enemy in places which
had become safe havens and operating bases," Bergner explained. Al
Qaeda forces, he noted, often were ensconced in hard-to-attack
defensive positions.
"So, the year that we have seen a significant amount of progress
is also a year that has involved an enormous amount of sacrifice,"
Bergner said.
At the start of a new year, Bergner predicted more battles ahead
for U.S. forces in Iraq.
"All of us start this year with the full understanding that this
is still a tough fight. It will continue to be a tough fight,"
Bergner said.
U.S. forces in Iraq will face that challenge teamed with
increasing numbers of capable Iraqi soldiers and police, as well as
additional concerned-citizen groups that have sworn to fight al
Qaeda, Bergner said.
In 2008, "we will see increasing commitment and involvement"
against al Qaeda by the Iraqi military and police forces and the
Iraqi people, the general predicted.
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