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Iraq Transition

General: Attacks on convoys up; casualties down

Commander credits better armor

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A top general in charge of logistics in Iraq said that although roadside bomb attacks on his convoys have doubled over last the year, fewer people have been killed or hurt.

Brig. Gen. Yves Fontaine, commander of the Army's 1st Corps Support Command, said that the number of casualties has dropped because his vehicles are better protected.

Fontaine said the number of roadside bombs -- which the military refers to as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs -- is up "100 percent" since last year.

"We have seen an increase in the use of IEDs on our convoys. And our main threat is the IED for the logistics convoys coming from Kuwait, Jordan and Turkey, and then going to the Baghdad area. So the increase has been to about 30 a week," Fontaine said in a teleconference from Iraq.

He said the command continues to "develop tactics, techniques and procedures that have mitigated the effect" of roadside and car bombs.

Fontaine said that because of armor improvements, "the casualties have decreased significantly, even though the IED attacks have increased significantly. So now our soldiers are safe in their Humvees and their trucks, and they walk out of the incidents when the incident occurs."

He said that all of the Humvees used to escort convoys have been up-armored, or reinforced, to level one and two -- "the best up-armoring that we can provide these young soldiers."

Most of the command's heavy equipment transporters are at level one and two and the military is working to improve the armor on its fleet of tractor trailers as well, Fontaine said.

"Bottom line, all our trucks, all are up-armored when they go out the gate to different levels, which protects our soldiers."

When asked where the attacks are most increasing, Fontaine made an apparent reference to the Sunni Triangle, which flares west and north of Baghdad. The insurgency has much support in the Sunni Arab heartland.

"The triangle is the area where this occurs. We know the south of Iraq is fairly safe, fairly secure. As you enter the triangle, this is the area where IEDs occur the most. So nothing has changed as far as that's concerned."

Soldier killed

A roadside bomb blast killed a U.S. soldier assigned to Task Force Liberty early Friday.

The bomb detonated about 4 a.m. (8 p.m. EDT Thursday) near Tikrit, about 81 miles (130 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

The death brings the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq to 1,843.

Constitution talks

Iraqis writing the draft of a permanent constitution will have a busy weekend as they hold marathon talks to reach agreement over what will be the country's most important legal document.

The deadline for completing the draft is on Monday. A national referendum is to be held over the constitution by October 15.

Negotiators have been haggling over issues involving federalism, the division of oil wealth, the roles of Islam and women, and the status of the city of Kirkuk -- where Kurds, Arabs and another significant groups in the northern region, the Turkmens, co-exist amid political tension.

The transitional government and the United States hope the constitution pushes Iraq's new democracy forward and generates unity among the many groups in the country -- the Shiite Arabs, the Sunni Arabs, the Kurds, and others, such as Turkmens and Christians. (Full story)

President Bush on Thursday expressed confidence that the deadline would be met and U.S. officials have urged the wide range of factions to compromise.

Even so, there has been an assumption that a more general draft would be completed, one that would not address some longstanding and complex issues for the purpose of meeting the deadline.

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