From the article: " Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki proclaimed on Friday that Al-Qaeda had been routed in Baghdad thanks to a security plan launched a year ago, and would soon be defeated throughout the country."
Though it seems the surge in Iraq has had an affect on the amount of attacks and casualties in Iraq since its inception (attacks down 62 percent since last June in all of Iraq), it is hard for one to say that Al-Qaeda has been "routed" or "defeated" completely. In our studies of the network structure in terrorist groups, especially Al-Qaeda, it cannot be fully known the extent to which the organization exists or doesn't exist. This announcement may signal better success but to infer that the job in Baghdad is complete is very hard to accept.
Greg
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