"In the most part, the U.S. has already withdrawn out of a lot of the cities. In fact, since the height of the surge, we have already

reduced our forces by over 20 percent. So, if you took a look at the number of the forces here at the surge, and take a look now, over a fifth of them have already gone home. In that same period, the Iraqi security forces have increased by at least 130,000," Maj. Gen. David Perkins, director of Strategic Effects, CJ-9, Multi-National Force-Iraq discussed with bloggers and online journalists MNF-I's role in the new emerging Iraq, March 5. "I think what's important is not just the numbers, but their capabilities have increased. In addition to the drawdown in U.S. forces, he said that they have also seen a decrease in violent attacks," said Perkins.

Last year they had weeks where they averaged over 190 attacks a day in Iraq, but routinely now they have days where they have less than 10 attacks a day throughout Iraq, Perkins added.

Joining us on the call were Paul McLeary, aviationweek; CJ Grisham, Soldiers Perspective; Spencer Ackerman, washingtonindependent; Bruce McQuain, qando.net; and Greg Grant.