Question principale, litt\u00e9ralement un probl\u00e8me de marketing<\/em>, ou d’image si vous voulez: le surge<\/em> US en Irak marche-t-il? Tout est suspendu \u00e0 cela, puisque la r\u00e9ponse \u00e0 cette question entretient, dans un sens ou l’autre, la bagarre principale: la bataille politicienne de Washington. On ne s’\u00e9tonnera donc pas d’avoir de surprenantes \u00e9valuations.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \tL’arm\u00e9e US, tendance Petraeus, est vraiment tr\u00e8s, tr\u00e8s contente. Il faut donc entendre l’adjoint de Petraeus, le g\u00e9n\u00e9ral Odierno, tel qu’en lui-m\u00eame selon AFP relay\u00e9e par Defense News<\/em> du 1er novembre<\/a>:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00abA combination of the U.S. troop surge into Iraq, improvements in the size and quality of Iraqi Security Forces and a growing local rejection of al-Qaida has produced a five-month decline in the number of coalition troops killed in action and a four-month decline in overall violence in Iraq, the No. 2 U.S. ground commander said today.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbArmy Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, who spoke with Pentagon reporters Thursday via satellite link from Iraq, said the downward trend in violence represented the longest continuous decline in attacks on record, and illustrates how the addition of five U.S. brigade combat teams and support forces earlier this year have improved security in Iraq.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbU.S. officials say the violence trends are the key indicator of improved security and a significant sign of progress toward the official U.S. goal of a unified, democratic Iraq that can govern, defend and sustain itself.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbThe number of overall attacks in October reported by Odierno is the lowest since sectarian violence spiked sharply upward in February 2006 after the bombing of the Samarra mosque, a holy Shi’ite shrine.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bb In the final week of October 2006, he said, violence-torn Anbar province suffered 303 overall attacks. That number has been reduced to less than 30 this past week, Odierno said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bb In Baghdad, where most of the surge forces were sent, the total of 143 attacks during the last week of October 2006 fell to less than 100 attacks in the same week this year.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bb Odierno noted that the four-month decline in overall violence covers a period that includes this year’s Muslim celebration of Ramadan. During the previous three years, Odierno said, enemy activity increased significantly during Ramadan, the dates of which change from year to year in the standard Western calendar.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n