Bombs in downtown Baghdad; Two Iraqi Police Wounded

Guerrillas fired mortars at US troops in Tikrit early on Tuesday but failed to inflict any casualties. In response, US troops wounded one assailant and knocked out another.

Guerrillas injured two Iraqi policemen with a rocket-propelled grenade attack near a Baghdad gasoline station.

They also fired rockets at the US HQ, and bombs were heard going off in downtown Baghdad. At the US HQ, loudspeakers announced, "Attack. Take cover. This is not a test." No one was injured. (Reuters)

General John Abizaid announced that attacks on US troops were down 50% from highs earlier in November (i.e. they have fallen from 30-35 to 15-17 per day throughout the country). This drop may in part derive from Operation Iron Hammer and other determined military operations in the past couple of weeks. But it may also be that the end of Ramadan and the arrival of Eid al-Fitr (breaking the fast, a joyous holiday) has drawn even the guerrillas into an endless round of socializing. Contrary to what many Pentagon spokesmen and journalists seem to think, Ramadan and other Islamic holy days aren't actually very good times to try to mobilize people for secular activities.