Attacks in Iraq at All-Time High, Pentagon Report Says

RAY SUAREZ:

Attacks on U.S. personnel, on Iraqi forces, and Iraqi civilians are at record highs; that word came late yesterday in a Pentagon report.

For the three months, from August to November of this year, average daily attacks on Iraqi civilians numbered 93, more than triple the rate of two years ago. Attacks on Iraqi security forces averaged 33 per day, nearly five times the rate two years ago. And average daily attacks on U.S. personnel were 25, about the rate of two years ago, but considerably higher than earlier this year.

For more on who and what is behind the rate of violence, we go to Ann Scott Tyson, military reporter for the Washington Post.

Welcome.

ANN SCOTT TYSON, Washington Post:

Thank you.

RAY SUAREZ:

Did the report from the Pentagon come to any conclusions about who's behind the 22 percent higher rate of attacks, for instance, on coalition forces?

ANN SCOTT TYSON:

Well, it certainly did. It said that the Shiite militia, and primarily those led by Muqtada al-Sadr, are more dangerous now in Iraq than al-Qaida and that their attacks are injuring and killing more civilians than are terrorist attacks, and also in areas such as Baghdad they're a greater threat to U.S. troops.

RAY SUAREZ:

Now, was there a standard for what kind of incident was reported as attacks? Was any fire directed in the general direction of a coalition member recorded as an attack on coalition forces?

ANN SCOTT TYSON:

Well, there are criteria, yes. Any kind of fire on coalition forces would be recorded as an attack.

It gets a little murkier when you get into the sectarian violence that they're trying to measure. And there, they have a slightly higher standard for confirming somehow that this was a sectarian-driven event.

But, certainly, the attacks on coalition forces would be pretty straightforward, a bomb going off, small arms fire, an RPG or something of that nature.