Two weeks of tighter security in and around Baghdad has more than doubled the number of terrorist arrests (to 900) and forced the terrorists to move more of their attacks to targets outside Baghdad. The disruption of the suicide bomber network has also led to more poorly executed attacks. For example, four bombings in the northern city of Kirkuk, while taking place within seven minutes, failed to cause many casualties.  Better security makes it more difficult for the car bombers to get close enough to a target to do much damage. 

The large number of arrests has provided a lot more detailed information on the structure of the terrorist support network in the towns surrounding Baghdad. This has led to a lot more raids on bomb workshops, safe houses and weapons storage areas. In some cases, the terrorists had basically taken over small towns, terrorizing the inhabitants into supporting them. When one of these places is found, over a thousand American and Iraqi troops will be quickly organized to surround the place, kill any terrorists who resist (many often do, and are quickly killed because they are not trained soldiers), and search the place. The cell phones, satellite phones and large amounts of cash being found indicates that the counter-terrorism effort is nailing key al Qaeda operators.

However, the terrorists have a lot of depth. The Sunni Arabs that support al Qaeda still have lots of cash, and a desire to keep the violence going. There are still more foreign suicide volunteers than can be used. The current operations have revealed the continued support for the terrorists within the Sunni Arab community. This has prompted the Kurdish and Shia Arab majority to increase pressure on the Sunni Arabs to rein in their own bad apples. The alternative is war on the Sunni Arab community.