Al Qaeda's Strength 'Undiminished' in Iraq Despite U.S. Assertions, Terrorists Thriving in Iraq, Senior Military Official Says By JONATHAN KARL http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3366118 July 11, 2007 - While the military has maintained that Al Qaeda is on the run in Iraq, by any number of measures the terror group and its affiliates are as strong as ever and June was the most violent month since the start of the war, a senior U.S. military official tells ABC News. Watch the report tonight on World News With Charles Gibson at 6:30 p.m. EDT "Despite our successes in taking out leaders and infrastructure," said the official, "Al Qaeda's operational capability appears to be undiminished." Al Qaeda operations are marked by the use of suicide bombers and the latest intelligence assessment shows that suicide attacks were near an all-time high in May and June. According to the report, Al Qaeda in Iraq is responsible for 15 percent of the attacks in the country, often the most deadly. Sunni insurgents are blamed for 70 percent of attacks, and Shia militias 15 percent. Shia attacks, however, have sharply increased and are now probably higher than 15 percent. ABC News has learned the most recent military intelligence assessment of Iraq also shows that the overall level of violence in the country -- measured as the number of "violent incidents" -- hit its highest level in June since the war began. According to the assessment, an average of 178 attacks a day were carried out in June. By comparison, there were only 94 attacks a day in March 2006, the month after the attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra touched off a wave of sectarian violence. The record level of violence comes despite significant progress in a few key areas. Anbar province, for example, was once the most dangerous area in Iraq and has experienced a turnaround a senior military official calls "miraculous." Attacks on civilians are also down significantly. But in other areas, the trends are in the wrong direction: - The number of attacks on U.S. soldiers is way up, now accounting for 70 percent of all attacks in Iraq. - While violence has dropped dramatically in Anbar province, the number of attacks has risen sharply in four other provinces: Baghdad, Salahaddin, Diyala and Basra. - In June, there were a record 55 attacks with Iranian-made roadside bombs -- so-called Explosively Formed Penetrators. This is the deadliest form of roadside bomb seen in Iraq. - Mortar attacks on the Green Zone have dramatically increased. The increase in violence can be attributed to a sharp rise in attacks on U.S. forces, including a record number of attacks with Iranian-made explosives in June, as well as a sharp increase in attacks on Baghdad's Green Zone, 90 percent of which are fired from Shia neighborhoods. A progress report on Iraq is expected to be delivered to Congress by week's end. President Bush has asked Congress to wait until September to see whether signs of progress are being made in securing the country and achieving political reconciliation . The senior military official summarized the report as "insufficient progress across the board" and says success in Iraq is not possible in the timeframe that Congress and the American public have in mind. While the Iraqi Parliament is now meeting six days a week and there has been some slow progress, it is unlikely to see any legislative benchmarks completed by September or even by the end of the year, the official said. FAIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to these copyrighted items are reserved. Articles and graphics have been placed within for educational and discussion purposes only, in compliance with "Fair Use" criteria established in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. 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