"As violence levels maintain a steady decrease across Iraq, coalition forces and the Iraqi government are able to focus their efforts on reconstruction and civil issues, a senior coalition military official in Iraq said today. Iraqi forces are improved, and the government continues to develop and progress, Army Brig. Gen. David Perkins, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said in a news briefing from Baghdad.

'Government, security and economic institutions continue to surge forward' throughout Iraq even as the last of the initial five surge brigades – 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team – redeployed this week, Perkins said."