Hostile activity in Iraq is down significantly, though not much is said about it in the media. This could be due to natural caution due to the fear that this is the quiet before the storm. That is possible. But there are some indications that al-Qaeda has given up on Iraq, and is now moving their activities to Pakistan. They have maybe one hundred million supporters in Pakistan, compared to just a million or so in Iraq. And, they don't have to confront the US military in Pakistan. I suspect they are having difficulty finding a lot of people who want to go to Iraq to earn their 72 virgins in Paradise. They thought they could win by killing a few Americans, something that would work if a Democrat was in the White House, but hasn't worked against Bush. And it has cost them thousands of men. Many Democrats claim that the US presence in Iraq created more terrorists than we killed. I think that is debateable. But, for whatever reason, there are not as many foreign terrorists coming to Iraq now. The main threat now is the large group of criminals who were released from prison by Saddam, and returned to their criminal ways. A lot of them have been killed, but some are still operating. We may have gotten to the point where the Iraqi's will turn on the criminals.