Iraq: Fewer Foreign Fighters Entering
December 13, 2009
U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus said Dec. 13 that fewer foreign fighters have been able to enter Iraq to join al Qaeda in Iraq, and that the group has changed it strategy to staging fewer but more deadly attacks, Reuters reported. Petraeus said from a security conference in Bahrain that the capabilities of al Qaeda in Iraq have been severely diminished, and that the flow of foreign fighters passing into Iraq from Syria has reduced from 110 per month at its height to fewer than 10 per month now. Petraeus said the United States is on track to reduce its forces in Iraq to 50,000 by August 2010 from 115,000 at present.