OK... I am back. I knew I had been reading the statistics correctly. I read every daily contact report and the tempo has not abated significantly. As much as I want a dramatic decrease in violence we can't wish it so.

Senator Lieberman is either deliberately skewing the truth or he was badly, badly briefed. He has made poor assumptions in this report that appear to be easily detectable. Here is a direct quote from the June 16 Report to Congress:

The total number of attacks in Anbar has dropped 34% since December 2006, with Ramadi—where attacks are at a two-year low—accounting for the largest decline in violence levels. Attacks in Anbar have dropped from 35 per day in the previous reporting period to just under 26, dipping below average daily attacks in Salah ad Din Province. (Source: MNC-I)
Here is the chart from the same report:



Violence is increasing elsewhere because the insurgent enemy is simply allowing us to step on the mercury and they spread to other more permissive regions. The Senator is justified in being happy to visit Ramadi, but his visit is in no way indicative of the security situation for the Iraqis or American forces in Iraq... not even close. You can't wish it so.