Is Iraq getting better? The statistics say so, across the board.


Over the past three months, there has been a sharp and sustained drop in all forms of violence. The figures for dead and wounded, military and civilian, have also greatly improved.

All across Baghdad, which has seen the worst of the violence, streets are springing back to life. Shops and restaurants which closed down are back in business.

People walk in crowded streets in the evening, when just a few months ago they would have been huddled behind locked doors in their homes.
Everybody agrees that things are much better.

But is the improvement only skin deep? And will it last once the American troops, whose "surge" has clearly made a difference, begin to scale down?
In the past few days, two events have underlined big changes that have happened in recent months on both the Sunni and Shia sides of the Iraqi equation.

Read the whole story here:
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Is Iraq getting better?

Scenes of rejoicing
A blow to militants
Bomb attacks rarer
Militia power
Challenges ahead

(emphasis mine)